Showing posts with label Project365. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Project365. Show all posts

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Hitting the Wet Pavement

Remember to enter the contest in the below post for a chance to win a $10 coupon to One Little Bird (Peppermint's) store at Catscrap! You have until Sunday at 9pm Pacific time.
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Last night Todd and I discussed the pros and cons of getting up early this morning to run with our West Coast Road Runners running club.  The pros.. well, now that I think about it, there was only one:  we would get our run in early, and not have to worry about it later in the day.  We didn't want to fall behind the schedule already, the first week of the official season starting!  The cons were many.  Too cold.  Too windy.  Too rainy.  Too early.  But when the alarm went off this morning, we both did get out of bed.  We even put our running clothes on, albeit more layers than usual.  And laced our shoes on.  Despite the fact that it was sprinkling outside, and the roads were wet, and it was cold by San Diego standards.  Because we're just SO committed!  Well, not really, but we went anyways!  :p

The crowd was pretty big today, due to the fact it's the first training run of the season.  All those bright-eyed, bushy-tailed newbies don't know what they're in for yet, ha ha! 

Here's coach Amy and some of the runners in the Catalina (my) group, going over some instructions before we headed out.
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The pavement was wet.
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(And boy do my thighs look really big from this angle, LOL.)

It was actually a rather nice four mile run, I have to admit. I had to jump over some puddles and stuff, but my shoes stayed pretty dry and it was not uncomfortable at all.
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I saw some really cool scenery, such as the skyline of San Diego with Mission Bay in between.
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And a rowing crew practicing on the bay.
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Right before the 2-mile turnaround, I also saw this cute guy running towards me. I got my camera out kind of late, so the picture was a little blurry.
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Todd with Robert, Cassey, and some other folks from his group after the run.
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I felt good during and after the run. I think I would rather run in slightly cold weather than warm weather. When it's cool outside, it feels good when my body and muscles have warmed up during the run. I didn't make the best time today, but I'm totally okay with that, because I made it out there and that's what's important.

Distance: 4.05 miles
Time: 45:25
Avg time/mile: 11:13
Calories: 404

I've gotten some blog comments and emails from my friends who have said that they miss me doing P365. To tell the truth, I do miss having my life documented every day. What I don't miss is the feeling that I HAVE to process photos and blog every day. I have actually taken photos on most days this year. Old habits die hard I guess. And I'm not going anywhere... still blogging and sharing my life here regularly! :)

When P365 was coming to an end last year, Peppermint said to me, "You know you're going to be just as busy, because you'll find other things to do, and other activities to commit yourself to." Boy she knows me well. :) I have been designing more templates, so look for new stuffs soon, like in a couple of days. I also have something in the works that I can't disclose yet, but I'm hoping that will soon come to fruition. And I took an Adobe Illustrator class this month at JessicaSprague.com. It has been so fun to learn the program and play in it. Wanna see a couple of my assignments?

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Nothing too fancy, but I'm excited to learn more and grow my skills. :)

Last but not least for today, it's this week's Digi Dare!
Come join us for Digi Dare #164, we are scrapping letters, advice column style! Please go to the Dare site for complete details, and remember to submit your layouts before Thursday 1/28 midnight Eastern time. We really appreciate the awesome participation from last week, and look forward to seeing your layouts for this one!

Here's my layout for the Dare.
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Full credits here.

I used Designs by Lili's brand new kit, Wish Upon A Star, on sale this weekend for 20% off at The Lilypad! Is it cute?
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I have some fun plans for tonight. I'll be back with photos and stories tomorrow, plus the winner of the $10 coupon to Peppermint's store!
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Sunday, January 10, 2010

2009 Year-In-Review

In the tradition of last year's 2008 Year-In-Review post, here is one for this year.  This post took a lot longer to complete than I thought.

First my 2009 Year-In-Review layout.
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The template is by me and is available here.
Rest of the credits here.


2009 Retrospective

January:
February:
March:
April:
May:
June:
July:
August:
September
October:
November:
December:
Phew, 2009 was quite a year!  And because of Project 365, we get to re-live it whenever we want! :)
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    Monday, January 4, 2010

    Latest Issue of Digital Artist Magazine

    The latest issue of Digital Artist Magazine is out now.

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    I wrote a five page guide to Project 365 in there.  :)  I interviewed three other people who also completed Project 365 in 2009 (one of them actually completed P365 in 2008 too!).  Then I compiled the info and wrote about our collective experiences on making Project 365 a success.  Tips for success, pitfalls to avoid, daily processes, etc.  I think it's pretty good info coming from people who completed Project 365 successfully.  :)  You can get it here right now!

    OR... make a comment in this post and I'll do a random drawing to give one issue away!  Comments for the giveaway will close at 9pm Pacific time on 1/6.  Good luck!

    ***Contest now closed***
    Read More »

    Thursday, December 31, 2009

    365

    Today was the last day of Project 365!  I did it!
    It feels almost as good as finishing grad school, LOL.  Not quite, but almost.  P365 was a rather ambitious undertaking on my part.  Well, taking the photos weren't so bad.  The transferring of photos to the computer, processing of photos, and blogging was the time-consuming part.  However, I'm not one who can settle for a half-ass job, so I had to blog and journal about things.

    Today I went to the office to work, because I actually had some deadlines.  Today was a holiday for Todd's work, so he was able to spend time with his parents.  They went for a walk at Miramar Lake.  It was a GORGEOUS day.  It was 70 degrees and sunny.

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    After I came home from work, we opened our gifts to each other and had Christmas all over again! Todd got me and his mom both Ohio State Buckeye shirts. We match!
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    And he got himself one, LOL.
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    We gave Todd's mom a recipe book that we made ourselves. We took all the food photos this year (seen on this blog), and I designed the book.

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    The title is "From Our Kitchen to Yours: Favorite Recipes from the Newman Clubhouse". We gave several as gifts and I got them printed 8x8 at Artscow. I will share pages and details in a few days. Overall I'm really happy with it, and so were the recipients!

    We got Todd's dad a Hawaiian shirt from Kauai, but I forgot to take a photo of him opening it.

    Todd's parents got me some glitter cardstock for my paper-crafting needs. I love it and I'm planning to use them for cards and in my Silhouette digital cutter.
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    Todd got some cooking instruments from his parents, for our newly remodeled kitchen.
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    Todd gave me a book about dumplings, which I love, and a book that teaches you how to draw cartoon animals, which I've been really wanting to learn.
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    Lastly, Todd's parents gave both of us a Garmin GPS unit to put in the car! It's an awesome gift! Now we won't get lost anymore.
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    Then we went to work on cooking our New Year's Eve dinner. I cooked my famous Cream of Mushroom Soup. This is my specialty and I've made it many times. Todd doesn't eat mushroom, so I've learned to make this myself.
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    It's actually pretty easy and takes about an hour, including 25 minutes of simmer time. And it's pretty healthy because you only use a little bit of half and half.

    Todd made his favorite BBQ Pulled Chicken Sandwiches.  I'm aghast that I forgot to take a photo.  See if you can see some on our plates.
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    In the evening, Todd made caramel popcorn from scratch and we all ate a bunch. So good!

    I have a couple of fun things to show you.
    My "09 Year-In-Review" template was featured on The Daily Digi blog today! I didn't know it, so it was such a pleasant surprise!
    And... Sweet Shoppe Designs has a brand-new challenge system in 2010, and guess who is the first featured scrapper of 2010 on their blog?  :)

    Happy New Year everyone!  Talk to you in 2010!
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    Wednesday, December 30, 2009

    How Did a Decade Go By?

    I was chatting with my boss today and he said that he was talking with his wife the other day, and they can't believe it's been a decade since everyone was going crazy about the "Y2K" stuff.  I can't believe it's been a decade either!  It seems like yesterday to me.  I remember the end of December 1999 very well, because we moved from Dayton, Ohio to San Diego right before Christmas that year.  I also can't believe that we've lived in San Diego for ten years!  Wow!  In retrospect, I see God's hand leading us here.  My parents had moved to Los Angeles County in November 1997.  That's when we visited them and decided to come down to San Diego, since I had never been.  We just fell in love with the city and made it our long-term goal to live here.  It helped that my company's major R&D facility happened to be in San Diego.  Fast forward to summer of 1999.  I found out the Financial Planning & Analysis Manager for the R&D division of my company left the job.  The job was vacant.  So I applied for it.  The miracle of it was, God had been prepping me for about 4 years for this job.  In 1996 God put the desire in my head to go back to school to get my MBA.  I did it at night while working full time, in order that my company would pay for it.  In 1997, I changed jobs within the company so that I would be in the division that contained the R&D arm in San Diego, even though at that time, I had no inkling to come.  Right after I finished my MBA in 1998, my company put a moratorium on paying tuition for school.  I just made it!  Anyways, I applied for the FP&A Manager job in 1999 to move to San Diego, and I got the job, mainly because I had already worked with the Controller who hired me due to me being in this division of the company already since 1997, and also because I had my MBA.  Even though I was already amazed at what God had led me to in 1999...  I wouldn't know the extent of His plans until February 2007, when my mom passed away from cancer.

    Looking back, I realized that I was meant to move to Southern CA in 1999, so that I could visit my parents more often.  I saw my parents at least every couple of months, since we only lived two hours drive apart instead of thousands of miles apart.  I realized how much memories and time I had with my mom during those last few years of her life.  I wouldn't have had that if we had stayed in Ohio.  It really was God's plan and blessing for me.  I often think of the story of Joseph in the Bible when I think about myself.  Yes, I realize God's plan for my life isn't as grand as His plans were for Joseph.  BUT I feel so loved to know that God had an awesome plan for me that made my life events more than just a coincidence.  And that He continues to work in my life to lead me to the next thing.

    Project 365 is coming to a close.  Tomorrow will be the last photo(s)!  It's hard to believe that I've made it.  So many times I felt burned out!  And I probably spent an average of 45 minutes a day processing photos  and blogging.  But this record of one year in my life is already precious to me.  It is astounding.  Looking back at the entries in my blog this year makes me so happy!  The ordinary in my life has become extraordinary.  The everyday IS special after all.

    One thing ends and several others begin!  I'm excited to share with you some of my plans in early 2010.  I have several new things going on and I hope you'll continue to visit this ole blog of mine as we share our lives with each other.  I can't promise to blog every day after Project 365 ends, but I will definitely still be blogging regularly.  :)

    I went into the office today and found a gift from my friend Sandra on my desk.
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    The cute snowman takeout box was filled with chocolate and a Mickey Mouse foldable tote bag! I'm so blessed to have friends at work. Oh! I forgot to tell you. The other day, one of the managers of the group that I support at work handed me a holiday card. Inside was a gift card to Costco. He said it was from the whole leadership team to me. I was really touched. When departments give out year-end gifts, they usually overlook the finance person. Why? Because let's face it, we're feared and not that well-liked in general. I'm the one who does the annual budget. I'm the one who does the purchasing and approves spending. Some people think I'm the roadblock all the time, LOL. So I was extra touched that they thought of me during the holidays and gave me a group card and gift. :)

    Todd's parents arrive from Ohio tonight. We will go to the airport to get them. Until tomorrow then, my friends!
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    Saturday, December 26, 2009

    Day After Christmas

    Today we made some lemon ginger scones for breakfast, but I totally forgot to take any photos. After breakfast, my dad and Shelly left. But beforehand, we took some photos in front of the tree. I set the auto-timer to take 10 photos in a row.

    Some photos turned out great.
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    Others... well, there was mischief.
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    After my dad and Shelly left, we went to run five miles at Lake Miramar. It had been a full TEN days since I had last run (in Hawaii). And it had been since December 5th that I ran five miles. My running and exercise has been very sporatic in December. That coupled with over-eating during vacation and the holidays, has made me gain a few pounds. I will be back to eating less and exercising more soon, so I can lose a few pounds again.

    I forgot to bring my camera to Lake Miramar. It was slightly cloudy and overcast, even at 11:30am, so we ran pretty comfortably without getting too hot. The first three miles were pretty easy, but I felt tired in the last two miles. I compared notes with Todd after the run and he said he also got pooped out after three miles. We are out of shape! Need to run more, LOL.

    Lake Miramar Run
    Distance:  5.01 miles
    Time:  55:35
    Avg time/mile:  11:06
    Calories:  496

    After the run we had lunch at Chile Peppers.  Todd had two carnitas tacos, while I had three taquitos.  Yum!

    Then we went home and promptly left with both cars, so we could drop Todd's car off to get some warranty service done.  They had replaced the intake manifold a few months ago, and subsequently the car has been leaking anti-freeze fluid.  Since they just did the work, they are fixing it for free.

    In the afternoon we watched some bowl games and hung out.  We had leftovers for dinner.  Fred and Annie next door gave us some homemade Tres Leche Cake, so we ate some of that for dessert.
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    It was delicious!  Mmm...  Then I spent hours processing photos and blogging the last three days.  It's worth it for the memories.  I find that I don't even remember three days ago that well!  Today is officially Day 360 of Project 365.  Only five more days to go!
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    Wednesday, December 9, 2009

    Project 365 - December Template + a New Set of Templates in the Store

    I can't believe that it is mid-December already.  Time has really flown by this year!
    I'm still going strong with Project 365...  I can see the finish line now!
    I'm excited to present to you the last Project 365 monthly template:  the December one.  Of course, you don't have to use it to scrap your December photos.  You can use it to scrap anything that starts with a "D"!



    **Download link no longer available**

    I also have the last product release into my Listgirl Designs store for 2009.  This set of two templates lets you put lots of photos, papers and journaling on there.  You can scrap your holidays or even other events during the year!

    Template Set #6:  Celebrate!



    It is on sale on Thursday 12/10 and Friday 12/11 for 25% off in my store. :) I hope you enjoy scrapping with them!  If you're a newsletter subscriber, you will receive an email with a code for another 10% off.  Hint:  the 10% off code will work for your whole shopping cart, not just the new template set.  So, if you've been eyeing some other things in the store... I'm just sayin'!  :D

    I had Vietnamese chicken noodle soup for lunch today.
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    It really hit the spot because it was cold today! Well, cold as in 55 degrees. :-|
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    Wednesday, November 18, 2009

    P365 November Template + Another Freebie + 09 YIR Template

    I finally got the November Project 365 template done! 



    **Download link no longer available**

    I also have another special template freebie in my store for you.  I've been thinking about the holidays and counting it down to Christmas.  Some of you are thinking of giving Project 365 a try next year.  Or maybe you don't want to commit to a whole year of taking a photo a day.  You could do a countdown to Christmas photo-a-day and make your layout easy-peasy with this template from me.  :)

    Free download is in my store. No need to register, just click on "FREE DOWNLOAD".

    I'm also stoked to announce a new product in my store. In the tradition of my 2008 Year-In-Review layout, I'm excited to present the 2009 Year-In-Review template!

    Over 145 layers for your papers and photos! Add your own embellishments and make it your own. I'm excited to use mine, especially since I'll be completing my very first Project 365 this year. :)
    The template is on sale for ONE day only, $1.50 in my store on Thursday, Nov. 19th until midnight Pacific time.  If you're a newsletter subscriber, you will receive a 10% off coupon also. 

    I went for a brief walk around my work campus at lunch today.  I love the crisp air combined with clear blue skies in San Diego in the fall.
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    Thursday, November 12, 2009

    Back On The Wagon

    Thanks for all your comments and encouragement regarding my Project 365 burnout post.  They really were encouraging and reminded me why I started doing this in the first place.  So thanks for that!  I am back on the wagon after taking a couple of days off for "Tuesdays With Todd".  :)

    Today I wanted to feature a couple of layouts by my friend Lisa (latz).  I "met" Lisa through my blog this year.  She is a talented scrapper, Christian sister, and she used to be a Minnesota Vikings cheerleader!  She still dances with the MVC alumni team during their annual reunion.  She has some fun photos and videos on her blog.  Check it out!  Lisa emailed me a couple of layouts using my templates.  I was tickled pink.  I loved how she made the templates her own and changed it up.

    Here is her layout using one of the templates in Template Set #1:  Have A Heart.
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    Here is her layout using my Halloween template freebie in my store.
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    Lisa has also made some rich and gorgeous papers on her blog, given away as a freebie!  Go and download and leave her some love!

    I love to see your layouts using my products.  If you've done one and you don't mind me sharing it on my blog, then please email it to me at listgirldesigns at gmail dot com.

    Today's photo was taken in the morning before I left for work.
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    One thing I'm very thankful for this time of the year is our radiant heated flooring in the master bath!  I know, I know, it doesn't get THAT cold in San Diego, and we haven't even turned our heater on yet.  But hey, the warm flooring sure feels good on my footsies out of the shower in the morning!  We set it on a timer and the floor is warm when we get up.  Then it shuts itself off at 8:30am.  At night it warms up again for when we get ready for bed.  Then it shuts off again during the night.  We paid extra for it during our remodel, but now we're glad we got it.  Happy little things in life! 

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    Notice how the timer is on Celsius?  Yea, it came like that and we don't know how to change it to Farenheit.  :: Snicker ::  That's okay, now we feel all international.  We set it to heat up to 27.5 C, which converts to 81.5 F.

    I can't believe it's mid-November already!  Next week I will have a couple of freebies up, plus at least one new product in the store.  :)
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    Monday, November 9, 2009

    Project 365 Burnout

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    We got a new BOSU ball from Amazon, because it was on sale under deep discount the other day. When Todd had his running injury and went to physical therapy, they had him do exercises on the BOSU ball there. My work gym has one too. We thought it would be good for both of us to incorporate it into our exercise regimen.

    I have something to admit... I feel really burned out by Project 365. The daily photo-taking, photo-processing, and blogging is really getting to me. Especially now that it gets dark so early. On the weekdays I work all day. By the time I get home it's dark. Then it's like I have this obligation hanging over me. What should I take a photo of? MORE food photos again??? The photo-processing and blogging ties me to my computer for quite a while every. single. night. To be honest, I can't wait until I've done the last P365 post on December 31st. I think after that I'll have a lot more time to do other things. So what's keeping me going? Well, I've made it this far, might as well finish it! Plus, I do get enjoyment out of going back and reading my old posts. And also, Todd really encourages me by telling me how much he enjoys my documentation of our days and our fun times together. That does warm my heart and keep me going.

    If you're still doing Project 365, what keeps you going? Why do you think you've made it this far? And what do you think you'll get out of completing it?
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    Tuesday, October 27, 2009

    Day 300

    Wow, who knew I would make it to Day 300 for Project 365 this year?  Only 65 more days to go!

    Todd took a photo of me trying to relax on the couch with a cup of tea.

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    As you know, I've been working a lot of hours on templates and getting my blog store ready to open on Nov. 1st. Sometimes I really get into something and I just want to get things done. Or I get overly-ambitious and then stressed out. Learning to relax is something pretty difficult for me. I've learned some hard lessons about living a balanced, less-stressed life, which I will share with you next week. I am still learning though. Because apparently just saying I need to relax doesn't mean it happens, LOL.
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    Sunday, September 20, 2009

    Catching Up

    I've said before that one of my favorite shows is the Travel Channel's "Man vs. Food".  They had an episode where Adam Richman tried to eat a 30 inch pizza at Pizzeria Luigi in San Diego.  Todd and I have gone to the Pizzeria Luigi in North Park, but we wanted to visit the original famous one.  So Todd deemed that today was the day.

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    This Luigi's in Golden Hill is right south of Balboa Park, with nice views of large trees in the neighborhood.
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    And very close to downtown.
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    Todd insisted that we had to try the pizza here to make sure it is "okay for everyone else". Well, far be it for me to interfere with the charitable service.
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    I think it's safe to say that the pizza is more than okay. Todd especially liked the thin, not-too-chewy crust.

    After pizza, we drove to San Diego Desserts in Lemon Grove. We had purchased a Groupon for $5 a while ago, which was good for $15 worth of food/desserts at San Diego Desserts.
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    We got a caramel chocolate bomb and a carrot cake, as well as a rooibos chai tea. Even though they were both good, it was too much dessert for us and we had to leave some behind. The service was very good though. We have another Groupon so we will be back.

    For dinner tonight Todd made a vegetarian soup, Grilled Corn and Potato Chowder.
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    Unfortunately, we didn't really like it for the amount of work it takes. The chowder was strangely sweet due to the corn, without adding any sugar into the soup. Not a winner! This breaks a winning streak of 3-4 new recipes that we've tried lately that we really liked.

    I made my Project 365 weekly pages for weeks 35 & 36. I had done pages up to week 22 and never caught up. I decided to just do the most recent weeks instead. I can go back and catch up later.
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