moleskine: highlights

in the last few days of 2014, i began chatting with my friends over at get it scrapped! about "intentions" for the new year.  i was intrigued by a link on bullet journaling that was shared and thought i might give it a try.  i then impulsively stopped at books a million on the way to our new year's eve party for my very first moleskine travel journal with the intention of bullet journaling on its pages.  i just couldn't do it.  the pages were too pretty and the journal too cute.  i just couldn't sully it with random messy lists. 

i was then faced with this adorable new journal with absolutely no intentions for it.  i pondered its fate all day long on new year's day.  i finally had a "eureka!" moment late that night after my football team lost its bowl game.  it's now my "highlights" playbook.  each day i simply write a few highlights, sketch a little picture, and color it in with watercolor pencils.  no back handed compliments and no disclaimers allowed.  only highlights.

semantics are funny.  i've tried this sort of thing before.  gratitude journals, reflections on my day, joys.  sometimes it all just seemed too profound when i was having a shallow sort of day.  highlights, though, highlights i can handle.  just a few little things that have made me happy each day.  no pressure.  just fill a tiny page with a few moments that have made me smile.  it's surprisingly easy and not so surprisingly uplifting.

it's also been not so hard to keep up with.  i try to write every day or at least every other day.  then i make the sketches and color them as i have time.  very relaxing.  give it a try!  i know it's been adding an extra smile or two to each of my days so far this year.

one little word: happy new year!

happy new year!

i had intended to greet 2015 with my eyes wide open, but g and i had a blast at our friends' house last night and didn't let go of 2014 till 3:00 in the morning.  i'm a little sleepy around the edges today, and g is still sleeping.  life is good, right?

i couldn't find any great unshared photos, so this is what you get.  a little peek at what will be my first layout of 2015.  it was a good 90% done yesterday, is still a good 90% done today, and will likely still be a good 90% done tomorrow.  it's all good.

i've chosen my word for 2015.  "changes."  the thing is, 2014 was good.  really good.  g and i enjoyed it thoroughly.  i'm tempted to just say "more of the same."  but, changes are inevitable for us this year.  jenni has embraced a new future for her business, so now i have the freedom to rethink how papercrafting fits into my life.  g crosses over from cub scouts to boys scouts in march and then graduates the 5th grade and starts middle school in the fall.  woah.  and, darn it!, i really do want to paint my house this year!

so, changes are on the horizon.  i feel we should greet them with arms wide open.  embrace them.  make them our own.

i signed up for ali's "one little word" class for the first time ever.  that's a change, right?

i hope this first day of a brand new year is finding you open to the opportunities for happiness that life presents.

(go seminoles! ;),

doris

fourteen favorites in 2014

happy new year's eve to you!  i managed to stay in bed till 11:00 this morning and after a very late breakfast, have spent the last couple hours enjoying reading others' reflections on 2014 online and looking back through my own blog posts from the year and reminiscing.  it was a very good year.  here are just a few of the highlights.  i'm glad i've gotten so many more recorded here on my blog and in my scrapbooks.

this first one is from a blog post i wrote to accompany a lesson on using natural lighting that i shared with the photography club at my high school.  i think i need to brush up on these points myself and see if i can work them into some winter photography. 

this will always be a treasured photo and one of our favorite childhood memories.  i'm glad i was able to get my thoughts about it written down here.  i'm not always good with the wordier essays.  i like to keep it brief.

i did a little more cooking in 2014.  go me.  i know that gabriel noticed, because at school he wrote a little abc book for mother's day and my favorite page in it is the letter d, "my mom is daring at cooking because she will try new recipes."  many of this year's recipes were tasty soups that i threw together without a recipe.  this one i am most proud of as the corn, peppers, and tomatoes were all from my own garden and the potatoes were from homer's farm.  it is very satisfying to grow your own food.

it was hard limiting myself to one layout.  there were several contenders.  i didn't dwell on it too long as i like them all for different reasons.  this one i love because of the soft  design that manages to let the little vintage photo of my brother and i shine.  i also managed to write a lot of lengthy journaling and get it on the page in a way that works well with the design.  this is one of my all time favorite photos.  the page just has an all around sweetness and i'm glad i've gotten these stories written down.

i love all my florida photos.  it's always warm in florida, plus we always have fun times with the family, like going out crabbing on the intracoastal, and it always reminds me of other great memories from my childhood.

this was my second year taking wildflower photos.  i have tagged them "roadside attractions" and photographing them has become one of my favorite hobbies.

i also got into gardening more than ever before.  i enjoyed documenting my garden and homer's farm in my online garden journal.  these zinnias got a post all their own.

this summer we got to travel a couple extra times.  the first was to visit my sister and her family at their campsite in the mountains of north carolina.

we also visited my sister in texas where i got to photograph texas wildflowers and a crazy grasshopper invasion.

i didn't get as many crafty projects done this year as i had intended, but i do a few.  g's class valentine's are always a highlight of my year.  i was worried this year that i wouldn't be able to come up with anything close to the coolness of last year, but i persevered and was quite happy with the way these turned out.  you can never go wrong with shel silverstein, right?

brevity is my forte with journaling and i was very pleased with this six word memoir.  i just wish i'd gotten more of my dad's old black and white photos documented.  i need to be more diligent about it in 2015.

i am very close to accomplishing my goal of reading 52 books this year.  i know today is the last day, but i think i'm going to make it.  so many great books.  this was one of my favorites this year.  so looking forward to more great books in 2015.  this was a very worthwhile and enjoyable pursuit.

this was one of my proudest moments this year.  i dug up a holly bush with a hatchet, a shovel, a trowel, and my own brute strength.  actually, it happened more than once.  i am woman, hear me roar.

and i think this is my favorite photo of my son and i from this year.  i was actually taking a solo selfie when he came and photobombed it.  i always think my smile is better when he's in the picture though.  and with this, let me encourage you to take more pictures WITH your child this year.  you won't regret it.

i hope your last few hours of 2014 are special ones.  make them so. 

much happiness to you and yours,

doris (and gabriel)

happy new (school) year!

i went back to work today.  summer vacation was awesome, but i really don't mind (too much) that it's over.  relaxation and laziness are good for me, yes, but so are schedule and routine.  i rather enjoy this time of year.  it's like a second new year and new beginnings are so good for getting me back on track.  like getting back on the track literally.  i have quite fallen off the exercise wagon.  i feel myself getting squishy.  oops!  yep, time to reassess my projects and goals and rediscover my motivation and drive to succeed.

on a side note, do you hate feet pictures?  maybe let's make that a rhetorical question.  i ask because i carpooled with a coworker today who mentioned really not liking feet.  i do like feet.  they are ever so useful and even at my maximum density i still liked the way my feet looked.  at least i do when i have my toenails nicely groomed and polished.  this summer i did not have time for such things and my sister was extremely appalled when she saw them.  I made sure to tidy them up for the first day of school.  (also, note the new flips.  cute, yes?  i got them in hot pink with black too.  oooh.  sparkly sequins.).

so, back to my goals.  several of them center around my "one little word" for 2014, "holiday."  to keep the word fresh in my mind, i decided to make a mini-album centered around it.  i went gangbusters on this through march and then nada.  i finally pulled it back out last week and forced the issue.  that first page on the left there came out totally fugly.  so bad that i had to redo it.  i'm not overly impressed with this second version, but it will have to do.  the next two pages are okay and may was hit or miss, but i finally found my groove once more with june.  sometimes, "get'er done" is what it takes.

then tying in with that i thought it would be nice to get a jump start on christmas crafting.  you know, finish all the old december daily type projects, make some christmas cards, make some crafties for gift-giving during the "holiday" season.  yea.  not so much.  the christmas papercrafting box stayed under the table in the shadows till last week when i knocked this page out after getting caught up on the aforementioned holiday mini-album.  what can i say?  i am a lazy bird, but when the ocd kicks in, it can be a glorious thing.

i did make some initial progress with the gift type projects.   i got that set of dish towels done and the cute easter baskets, but then started in on a couple baby afghans and got totally bogged down in them.  i have finally gotten those figured out and am cranking out rows at a steady pace now.  so, why not add some more projects to the mix then?  i'm loving jenni's new "crafted kits" and have plans to make this one for the nurses in the family.  i am a glutton for crafty punishment.

then there was the brilliant 52 week project that i decided to attempt.  it lasted through march too.  and since i'm still working on those baby afghans, it's still on hiatus. 

of course, i am doing project life again.  in my mind.  in actuality, i've gotten my photos printed through april, my photos sketched out through june, and my photos scrapbooked here and there and hardly at all.  but this is a project that i don't so much mind being behind on.  i know i'll just as much enjoy scrapbooking these photos when g goes off to college.  maybe even more so.

say "crappie sparkle nibbles" three times fast

this fish bait made me laugh. (six word memoir.  so easy.  so awesome.).

then over at get it scrapped! i set up a nice little list of monthly photo and/or word challenges for myself and whoever would like to play along.  goodness!  i was such a busy bee that last week in december coming up with all these ideas!  i managed to keep this one going through april till it fell by the wayside.  time to resurrect it.  august is "six word memoirs."  i think i can handle that.  brevity is a good thing.

 

and then on to the goals that I never mentioned publicly.  like, "oh it would be nice to read a book a week (52) books this year."  I've gotten 21 under my belt so far.  hey!  this one could actually happen.

incidentally, has anyone out there read this one?  not a rhetorical question, by the way.  i was only 40% through when the library called it home and so far i don't really much care for it.  is it worth putting it on hold again to finish it?

and then there's the "wouldn't it be fun to blog every day (365 times) this year?  yea, i'm laughing too.  but i might hit 31 posts this month.  july has been good for me.  (love this magazine, btw).

and the new year's resolution type things that you know you need to do:

organize the house - shockingly, i'm close to done with this one without hardly trying

tackle the landscaping - i found out i could do so many things this summer and i'm so looking forward to next spring when i can plant my little heart out instead of ripping out holly, pulling up rampant weeds, and chopping a felled bradford pear into garden poles.

paint our walls white - the landscaping accomplishments have made me brave.  i think i might actually attempt this one this fall once the cold winds drive me inside.

plan a trip to washington d.c. - i was hoping to take my boy to the smithsonian this summer (don't you think he would love that?), but we ended up going to florida, north carolina, and texas instead.  next summer for sure though.

it has truly been a joy to reflect on a summer well spent on this blog of mine.  and now I will enjoy the steady rhythm that is back to school (and schedule a few more adventures for the dog days of summer).  thanks so much for tagging along.  :)

52 weeks: 104 + 4 granny squares

oh!  i have been so excited about this project ever since i discovered it back in the early summer.  i have been dusting off my crochet skills and collecting cotton yarn ever since and anxiously awaiting the new year so i could get started.  the idea is to crochet a granny square each week, choosing the colors based on the season, a holiday, or a major even that might be happening at the time.

i finally began practicing squares in earnest in mid-december.  the one on the right is a vintage granny square pattern from 1891.  i crocheted it in the lighter weight cotton-ish yarn as i thought i might make a little doll blanket for my niece.  it is lovely and delicate, but i decided i wanted to go with the traditional granny square for my 52 week design.  the cammo square to the left is my practice square for that one.  the patterns i read didn't really make sense to me, especially since i wanted to be able to make some rows continuous (without cutting my yarn and starting with a new color), so i modified it just a tiny bit.  it seems to be working well for me now.  and i guess you noticed that my 52 week project has quickly turned into three projects.  ha!  that's usually how it works with me.

next i had to think about dimensions.  in the background you see one of my grandmother's granny square afgans.  she used acrylic yarn and a larger crochet hook than the one i use.  her squares measure 9 inches across while mine measure 6.  hmmm.  ok!  so i'll make two granny squares a week!  problem solved and project made bigger!  hurrah!  and then i'll have to make four extra in the end as 52 x 2 = 104 which does not work well for aligning rows and columns of granny squares so the completed afghan turns out perfectly rectangular.  52 x 2 + 4 = 108 and 9 x 12 = 108.  yes, that will work nicely!  by my calculations, my afghan should be approximately 4.5 feet x 6 feet.

i chose my colors this week based on the weather.  we had a chance of snow.  i was thinking winter whites and blues, but then realized that pantone's color of the year would be perfect!  the finished square reminds me of my beloved pansies.  i've decided my second square each week will be an exact reversal of my original color choices.  isn't it amazing how different the two squares look, even though they were made from the exact same colors.  that seems like a lovely analogy for life in general; how the smallest decisions can effect the pattern that our life takes.  profound.

top squares are made from 4-ply 100% cotton with a size E crochet hook.  sugar n' cream cornflower, grape, and white, and bernat seaspray.  bottom left is also 4-ply 100% cotton with a size E crochet hook.  sugar n' cream renegade.  the small square is light (3) weight 55% cotton/ 45% acrylic with a size D crochet hook.  cotton-ish by bernat in cotton gin, grey t-shirt, spinning ginny, and cotton field.

traditional granny square pattern (modified by me):

round 1: chain 6, slip stitch to form ring, *chain 5, 3 double crochet in ring, chain 2, 3 double crochet in ring, chain 2, 3 double crochet in ring, chain 2, 2 double crochet in ring, slip stitch to opening formed by chain *chain 5.

round 2: (either continue with same color, or slip stitch a new color to a corner hole) chain 5, 3 double crochet in corner hole, chain 1, 3 double crochet in side hole, chain 1, 3 double crochet in corner hole, chain 2, 3 double crochet in same corner hole, chain 1 . . . continue this pattern around square.  in the end you will again just need to put two double crochet in the corner you started and slip stitch onto your chain 5 to complete that round.

rounds 3 and on:  more of the same!

and look!  my granny square forecast was correct!  we had snow flurries this morning as i was completeing the second one.  :)

one little word 2014!

happiest of new years to you!  i picked me one little word for 2014 . . . holiday!  i'm excited about the idea of celebrating all the fabulous people and moments in my life this year. 

have you chosen a word to guide your year?  this is my fourth year with this tradition.  in 2010 i chose "focus."  that was pretty much a dud.  i'm a deep thinker to begin with, so a word that made me even more somber was just too much.  the next year i went polar opposite and chose "joy."  that was a little better, but ironically it lacked focus.  ha!  i did try to start an art journal with that one, but it didn't really take.  last year i tried once more and picked "details."  that one was a winner!  i started project life, did two months of haiku challenges, and two months of photo-a-day challenges.  i also rocked valentine's day and my christmas mantel among other things.  these last two gave me the idea of this year's word, "holiday."  i want to remember birthdays and send christmas cards this year.  i want to do some decor projects for the holidays and host a few parties.  things like that.  i think it's a fun way to be present and make the days, weeks, and months more special.  i decided to try giving my word it's own home again this year.  instead of the art journal, i'm going with a handbook/mini-album style.  i'm not sure yet what all i'll put in it, but i'll keep you posted!

the foundation of the book is a basic grey handbook that i got in a recent jbs mercantile mini-album kit.  i also took the guts (dividers, page protectors) out of a pink paislee handbook i had (from another previous mini-album kit).  most of the bits are from the january jbs mercantile artisan and antiquarian kits.  i simply adore those large die-cut numbers - sheer perfection for the start of a new year.  and vintage bits always add so much charm to a page.  the little flatback is exclusive to the main kit.  i can't wait to really break into that one.  the exclusives this month are fabulous.

this spread has a little note about my word on the left and my first "6 word sentence" on the right (more on that next challenge week!).

and here i've printed a calendar to put birthdays and obscure holidays on (i got my holiday list from tami's "got glue" journal class) and a pocket full of quotes from my pinterest quote board.  i chose quotes that set the tone for my new year.

those are the ideas i have so far.  i'm sure more ideas will come to me as the month progresses.  :)

december goals

this weekend i started thinking about christmas and decided that i needed to figure out my december goals early.  if i don't have a plan before the month starts, then it will all just get away from me again.  for example, this photo is from 2011.  i started a really cool vintage journal your christmas album that year and got completely derailed by day 14.  i'm hoping to tidy up all those sorts of loose ends this year, so i can start christmas 2014 with a clean crafty slate.

so, here are my christmas crafting goals in order of when i need to start them:

1. dig out all my christmas cds.  i think i bought a new taylor swift one last year that i haven't even listened to yet!  i think the carols will enhance my crafting.  :)

2. make a new garland for my christmas mantel and get the mantel set up.  i've got lots of cute things pinned to my holiday crafting board, but haven't decided yet what i'd like to make.

3. organize my christmas album.  i've gone through all of g's albums and pulled out all the christmas layouts, so that i can put them in one album to display each year at christmas.  there are several layouts that need minor repairs, and no christmas layouts after 2008.  i need to get one layout made for each of those four missing years.  i really like having albums like this that are more condensed snapshots of how g has grown from year to year.

4. buy a christmas blooming houseplant.  we always had a christmas cactus when i was a kid.  i've had the sudden urge to get one of those or an amaryllis.

5. journal your christmas.  i started a multi-year album in 2011 and i'd like to make some progress on it this year.  i don't have to necessarily finish it as it has a variety of photos from my childhood and gabriel's.  i'd like to at least finish the 14 pages i started back in 2011 and add a couple from this year.  i thought it was strange that i never shared any of the album on my blog, and when i dug it out of storage last night i realized that i never shared because i never journaled!  doh!  i'm hoping to get some of those pages finished this weekend so i can share.  it has a really neat construction.

6. christmas cards.  i don't plan on making a massive amount, but g and i had our portrait taken at church and i ordered a sheet of wallets, so i'm thinking to make 8 or 9 cards to send those out to family and a few close friends.  maybe it will be just enough to get in the spirit of an all out christmas card binge in 2014?  do you all send christmas cards anymore?  sadly, it seems to be a dying art and it was something that i thought was so magical as a child.

7. project life.  with all the other projects planned, i've decided to forgo making a separate december daily this year.  i'll be using the get it scrapped! "your december story" class for writing prompts and housing them in my project life album.  i'd also like to get december done in the project life 2012 album.  it's only a page or two, i think.

8. christmas tree and outdoor lights.  maybe get it early this year?  maybe get some new outdoor lights to add to the collection.  find a fun new ornament for the tree.  deck the halls!

9. christmas cookies.  g loves to decorate sugar cookies every year.  i thought i might try this recipe off my holiday food board.  i also want to make a batch of grandma's peanut butter cookies to send to the family.  they love getting them, especially papa.

10. teacher gifts.  i'd like to make a little something cute for g's teacher.  i flaked on this last year and felt bad.  maybe i'll make a little something for his third grade teacher as well.  and then, being a "special" teacher myself, i'd like to make a little something for his music, art, pe, and library teachers.  too much?  pinterest to the rescue?  perhaps.

11. pretty gift wrap.  i've seen so many cute ideas for gift wrapping on pinterest.  i'd like to wrap something pretty.  even if it's just one thing.

12. one little word 2014 album.  i've already got my word for next year figured out and i'm way excited about it!  i want to get a little album prepped to record next year's word all year.

13. 52 week project.  i saw this 52 week project several months ago, and immediately decided that i was going to make a granny square a week in 2014 then sew them into an afghan when they were all finished.  i'm still excited about the idea and need to choose a pattern and do a little practice/prep work before january.

14. christmas all year in 2014.  i love the idea of giving handmade gifts, but never do because it takes too long and time always gets away from me.  i thought it would be a majorly good idea to make something each month in 2014, so that i'd have some handmade gifts to give for christmas next year.  i need to sketch out a month-by-month plan for this.  i love making lists.  ;)

november goals

this is me, dorissander, on instagram this morning.  i posted "yesterday, a boy said i was rude, so i wore my witch tights today in his honor."  seriously, said boy will have a much better time in life when he learns the difference between a rude woman and one who is slightly stressed.  happy halloween, ya'll!

i noticed on a beautiful mess that elsie and emma are doing four simple goals again this fall.  i've decided to play along and choose four simple goals for the month of november.  here they are:

1. do the turkey trot
2. complete a 30 day gratitude journal (to help with my stress levels, ha!)
3. cook four soups off my pinterest food ideas board
4. record four more of my dad's black and white stories

40 pounds

i've lost 40 pounds over the past year.  when i went back to school this fall, the weight loss was much more noticeable.  i've gotten asked many times over the last couple months how i did it.  i get the feeling that i'm being asked to share a secret that is more along the lines of magic or miracle.  the hard truth is that serious weight loss takes time, hard work, and discipline.  i haven't been sharing my weight loss journey here and don't plan to start regular healthy lifestyle postings.  i did want to share what finally worked for me though, in case it might help someone else.

1. more water/less coke - i am a coke drinker.  it's an addiction.  i don't even drink the diet version.  it's the real thing, baby.  i fully accept the dieting adage, "don't drink your calories."  the problem for me is that i can give up coke for two or three weeks, but not long term.  it's my best friend, my self-medication, my achille's heel.  i started my weight loss journey a year ago september.  obviously, the first thing i did was cut back drastically on my coke intake.  i managed to not drink any that first week.  only one a day the second week.  something like that the third week.  and then a little more.  and more as the year progressed.  i just can't give up coke.  the cut back at the beginning was good though in that i had a dramatic weight loss of 13 pounds in the first month.  this was a good jumpstart that helped motivate me. 

paired with the coke cutback was an increase in water consumption.  i might not be able to tell myself no to coke often enough, but i can tell myself that i have to drink water first.  i don't love water.  i just tell myself it's medicine and drink a bottle down before i have my coke.  there is no excuse for not drinking water.  it's critical to our well-being.  i drink it whether i like it or not.

2. a salad a day - the other main thing i did that first month was to eat a salad every day.  i had become disgusted with myself earlier that summer when i faced the fact that i do not eat vegetables.  this might be cute in an elementary school boy, but is absolutely ridiculous for a 40 year old woman.  after putting corn and potatoes in the grain category where they belong, i was left with green beans, sweet potatoes, and salads.  in july of last year i had challenged myself to eat a salad a day and was quite successful with it.  i found that i really like salads if they have meat or eggs on them.  i revisited this challenge in september and have made it part of my daily lifestyle.  eventually, i did get tired of eating salads every day.  now somedays i'll have tuna/sardines with carrot sticks and an apple.  sometimes i'll flake and have pb&j with the carrots and apple.  somedays i'll flake completely, but in general i've gotten very routine about it and i feel so much healthier for it.

3. get on the scale every day - i firmly believe that this has been the key to my success.  i got a new coworker a year and a half ago who quickly became one of my besties.  she mentioned weighing herself every day and i thought she was crazy.  i don't want that in my face every morning.  besides, i had always been told that weighing once a week is the thing to do.  not so, and these are the reasons why:  if you only weigh yourself once a week, you can become frustrated if you don't show the expected weight loss after a good week (when the weight loss might have shown up the next day) and on the flip side if you start out the week with several eating accidents you might decide to just blow it off and start over the next week.  this quickly becomes six weeks later.  oops!  weighing every day keeps me accountable.  it keeps me motivated.  it's shown me what food does to me.  i've learned to regulate not with paid programming or an app, but with this digital accountability each morning.  i would not have been able to make the lifestyle change that i have without this one little trick of weighing myself every day.  so simple and so effective.

4. buy cute clothes - i didn't wait till i lost all the weight to start buying cute clothes. buying a cute new sweater with sheep down the front made me feel cuter and feeling cuter made me feel more motivated to stick with it. no brainer. now i am able to buy cute clothes without thinking about their slimming effects or their ability to camouflage problem areas. cute clothes have become very motivating for me. i like buying and wearing cute clothes more than i do buying and eating food that will make me not be able to wear my cute new clothes.

5. control the carbs - i am not a believer in cutting a food category out of the diet.  i do, however, think that americans have been brainwashed by the food pyramid.  eating nine servings of grain every day doesn't really mean what we think it means.  cut the carbs.  i usually eat a whole grain cereal or cereal bar for breakfast.  sometimes i have hotcakes or lucky charms.  for lunch, i try my best to go without grains.  no sandwiches!  dinner is whatever i make.  i try to eat whole grains as much as possible.  i've switched to 100% whole wheat bread (nutrigrain 100% whole wheat has 50 calories a slice as opposed to the honey wheat that i used to eat which is at 70 calories a slice).  i consider corn and potatoes good for me in moderation.  i eat brown rice.  i don't especially care for whole grain pasta, but i don't eat pasta that often.  chips are a treat not a normal part of my lunch routine.  when i stop at the fast food window these days, nine times out of ten i am buying a salad instead of a burger and fries.  it's all about reprogramming the brain.  i do not need bread/chips/fries with every meal.

6. quality, not quantity - as the year progressed, i got to a point where i simply couldn't eat as much and i actually felt bad when i ate too much junk.  not only have i reprogrammed my mind, i've reprogrammed my whole system.  this is a very good thing.  now my body is helping me to be good.  when i do sneak some fries, i don't want a large, i only want a taste.  a half a small fry satisfies me.  i'm not even kidding.  i noticed about six months in that the urge to snack during the day was mostly gone, especially during the weekday when work kept me busy and in a routine.  another weight loss trend that doesn't work for me is the one that says, "eat like a king for breakfast, a prince for lunch, and a pauper for dinner."  i can't do it.  once i start eating the tasty treats, i want to eat like that for the rest of the day.  i have to eat minimally for breakfast and lunch and hold dinner on the horizon as my treat for the day.  and if i feel a huge snacking urge building, i might even skip dinner and make a massive bowl of buttered popcorn.  not every day, just on an as needed basis.  ha.  another bit of advice, if it's not as delicious as you thought it was going to be then stop eating it.  don't finish that twinkie if it's not as fabulous as you expected.

7. move - exercise is an important component of a healthy lifestyle.  unfortunately, i have a track record of being able to diet or excise, but not both at the same time.  i thought i'd finally broken this trend as i went four months this spring/summer running, walking, or mowing three miles a day while sticking with my healthy eating routines.  september hit and the days got suddenly shorter and now i am struggling.  frustrations!  i'm thinking of signing up for the local turkey trot.  that might be motivating.  and cute new running shoes!  that might do the trick, yes?

and one last word on the weight loss.  i feel better about myself and i like people more.  i have become so much more outgoing once again.  all the hard work and self-denial was totally worth it.

october goals

 

well.  i didn't meet all my september goals, but i wouldn't call the month a bust.  i did improve quite a bit over my summer lazies.  i totally rocked the september photo challenge (here, here, here, and here), finished my book selection and almost a second (i must get all my summer book reads blogged!), i published 18/30 blog posts, and made a significant dent in my 2013 project life (and started on 2012!  what?!).  not too shabby. 

 

on to october!

1. complete the get it scrapped! october haiku challenge  (join me! it's fun!)

2. finish my october book club choice (and blog the backlog of summer reads)

3. create a pinterest boot pinboard (so i will be motivated to wear my cool new boots lots, thus making it justifiable to purchase another pair in black and cute new tights for fall!  shopping justification is a worthy goal, yes?)

4. blog about my project life process and recent revelations

5. publish 31 blog posts

6. walk/run daily (after exercising my butt off all summer and loving it, the shorter days of september have totally gotten to me.  gah!  must get my moving groove back!)

7. finish my crochet wips (and blog them too!), so i'll be motivated to start a granny square practice project in preparation for this 52 week project that i'm planning on for 2014

8. get out some fall/halloween decor.  no grinches in da house, doris!

9. start on the great landscraping reno of winter 2013!  the pampass grass and holly must GO!

10. drop a bomb on my gmail inbox