Category Archives: Self Improvement

My Vision Board!

Here is that vision board I had told you that I was wanting to put together…

Sorry for the blurriness – I tried something new, that didn’t work out as expected!!! but the gist of this board for me is that I want a simpler life that I can share with my husband, with a small farm, a sweetly chic country home, a child (or 2), and a home furnishing/accessories business. I am loving the idea of long walks out in nature, planting my own gardens, lazy afternoons spent up in the orchard picking fruits for jamming, and pies, and such, and room for friends and family to come over, replenish themselves and make some fun memories together!!! Ok, so I may be dreaming of a slice of the Barefoot Contessa’s life, but I sure there will be enough room for everyone!!!

I can see my future as clear as a bell – the trick now will be figuring out how to make it come to fruition!!

Wish me luck!! 😉

Epiphany!

At the end of the day, all you have are your memories and your experiences. You can’t take any of it with you!!! If you were to die tomorrow, what would you be taking with you?? Scary really! I have got to get out there and LIVE! LIVE! LIVE!! As Auntie Mame says,

“Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!”

60 Day Life Makeover, Day 8!

Good morning!

Today is day 8 of my 60 Day Life Makeover, and I thought I would give you an update of how it is going! Before I tell you that, however, let me remind you (and myself) what my goals are!

My top 5 60-day goals are:

  1. Lose 20 pounds. This body will only carry me for so long, and being at the weight I am is truly starting to become a hindrance, and an anchor to where and what I want to be doing.
  2. Find a church home. I NEED a church home.
  3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home.
  4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground.
  5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth.

Ok, so now for the updates!!!

  1. Lose 20 pounds. As of this morning, I have lost a TOTAL of 1 POUND (they do say that ‘slow and steady wins the race’ – I REALLY HOPE THEY ARE RIGHT!)!!!
  2. Find a church home. We did go to church this last Sunday. Church was fine, but it wasn’t our “home”, it was just too large – we kinda felt like cattle!!! Anyway, we are going to go to a different church tomorrow morning. Our fingers are crossed!
  3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home. It quickly became evident that this task may take a lot longer than 60 days. Right now I am focusing on our office/craft room. I am going through each item deciding what needs my attention, what needs to go into the e-bay pile, and what just needs to be gone!! Not easy, but I am already reaping the rewards of the hard work I have been doing. Yesterday I got to spend a good portion of the day creating! That was SOOOOO WORTH all of the time I have spent filing, and clearing out the clutter!!
  4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground. I haven’t started actively looking for this yet, this will happen as soon as I get my craft room done!
  5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth. I have created quite a stack of belongings that are going to go up on e-bay tomorrow, so I am hoping that will start my efforts to create this $1,000.

So onward, and upward!!!

For today:

  • Blog
  • 60 minutes Fitness plan
  • Track food
  • Confirm church times for tomorrow
  • Drink 2 liters of water
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour
  • Change bedding
  • Put laundry away
  • Vacuum/Sweep/Mop
  • Spend at least  1 hour filing creative paperwork
  • Go through current bills
  • Update electronic bill tracker
  • Go through at least 10 magazines (I have at least a hundred of these all over the house)
  • Bathe Faye
  • Make time for playing!

Wow! I had better get busy!!

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

Happy Friday!

Good morning!

Happy Friday!!! I can feel a good day happening! I am going to spend today being creative, and possibly taking my sweetie to the movies! He has been wanting to go all week! However, he is happily spending some time gaming today!! So, we will see!!!

My sis, Alex, and her kiddos came over last night, and as they were leaving, Alex mentioned that she wanted to do a vision board! I think that is a good idea!!! I think I will make an electronic version and post her with you!

Also, I stayed up super-later last night finishing that book I was telling you about, Live a Thousand Years by Giovanni Livera. What a GREAT FIND that was!! I actually found this book at Goodwill for the grand price of $3.99! It was mistakenly tucked into the children’s books!! Probably hidden there, just for me!!! 😉

The premise of this book is that there is a man, named Nick, who is busy rushing through life, and it is quickly passing him by. Time stops, literally and he meets the “Keeper of Time”, who’s name is Max. Max, through the use of the numbers on Nick’s pocketwatch, teaches both Nick, and you, the reader, how to live twelve times the life experience of the average person. Most of us measure our time by clocks and calendars. Live A Thousand Years reveals the power of measuring your time and your success by moments and experiences. I would highly recommend this book!!

The Twelve Chimes are:

Chime One: Time for Yourself
Chime Two: Time to Be Positive
Chime Three: Time to Give
Chime Four: Time for Relationships
Chime Five: Time to Learn
Chime Six: Time in the Moment
Chime Seven: Time to Dream
Chime Eight: Time to Play
Chime Nine: Time to Work
Chime Ten: Time to Forgive
Chime Eleven: Time to be Brave
Chime Twelve: Time to Reset

I have a lot of practicing to do to get good at all of these chimes, but this book has interigued me, that if I want to have the time of my life, the work will be worth it!!!

On that note…

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

Fun! Fun! Fun!

Whew! Today has been a pretty good day!!

My sweetie and I went out to Goodwill and I picked up 3 books! We headed over for lunch, and had fun being silly and giggly all through lunch! We then went to St. Vincent de Pauls, then spent a couple of fun hours over at Border’s. After returning home, I went and took a nap and woke up just in time to have my sis, Alex, and the kiddos come over for dinner, a couple of games of Uno, and then off to swim and play in the pool, volleyball anyone???

Having fun all day can be tiresome!! Can I confide in you? I am waaay to young to be feeling this old!!! I have got to get back into shape – yes, I am in shape, if you counted ROUND as a shape!! This is so important to me. I have so many people who count on me being around, not mention I count on me to be around – for as long as possible! I don’t want to become a sad statistic!! Ok, that is enough of my sad-song!!!

As for my to-do list from today:

  • Blog – Done!
  • Track food – I can do this on the go, on my Blackberry – Nope
  • Drink at least 2 liters of water – Done!
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour – Done!
  • Sort bills – Done!
  • Dinner & Swimming with Alex & the kiddos!!! – Done!
  • and last, but not least, GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!! – Done

I spent the past half an hour watching some cool tutorial videos on fashion and beauty. It made me curious about how to create a video of my own. Hmmm…maybe I will have to research that!! Like maybe a video journal of my 60 day life makeover!!! Could be cool!!

While I think on how to do that…

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Sleepin’ in & Feelin’ Groovy!!

Good morning!!

Today is the start of day 7 of my vacation, and I was FINALLY able to SLEEP IN TODAY!!! YEAH!!! I can’t believe it -I woke up at 9:30 today!!! WHOO! HOO!! I am up showered, dressed, ready to get my day started!!!

Ok, just so I don’t lose my momentum, I do have a small to-do list for today that I will get to that in a minute…but right now, there is a lesson that I have recently learned that I want to put into practice for today! I have been reading a book called, “Live for a Thousand Years”, it is by Giovanni Livera. One of the lessons that it teaches is that you have to make time for playing.

WHAT A NOVEL CONCEPT!!!

This is one of my MOST DIFFICULT things to remember! I am such a to-do list girl, that spontaneity seems to be really difficult for me – always has been!! Today, seeing that it is the 7th day of our vacation – and my husband and I are starting to go a little stir-crazy, me trying to be PROACTIVE 24/7, and him having to live with me while I am on COMBAT MISSION mode!!! 😉

So, I have decided today, besides the few things that I MUST get done, my Sweetie & I are going to head out and go have some spontaneous fun!!! I am not sure what that is going to look like yet, but I will give you an update this evening!!!

As for my to-do list?? Well, I am going to try to keep this short and sweet:

  • Blog
  • Track food – I can do this on the go, on my Blackberry
  • Drink at least 2 liters of water
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour
  • Sort bills
  • Dinner & Swimming with Alex & the kiddos!!!
  • and last, but not least, GO HAVE SOME FUN!!!!

With that…

Have a FABULOUS day!!!

Started Out Strong & Peter’ed Out!!!

When I woke up this morning, I had every intention of doing EVERY SINGLE THING ON MY TO-DO LIST TODAY!!! I started out strong, motivated, driven, and I even did the scariest things from my to-do list first!!!

After I had accomplished about 4 or 5 things, my energy level absolutely plummeted!!! What’s up with that??? Plus, during my walk today, within the last block of the 3-miles, in the freezing rain, I turned my ankle!

“OUCH, it’s ok, it’s ok, I am just going to walk it off!”

Well, after about two hours after getting home and doing some more chores, I realized that not only did I hurt my ankle, I tweaked by lower back and pulled a muscle in my leg! Doesn’t that just figure???? LOL! It’s all good! as of tonight, only my leg is a little ach-ey, so I am sure by morning I will be back to 100%

Jason and I starting to struggle a little bit right now on vacation! We are starting to get a little antsy and bored! I can hear my mom saying,

“Get outside, and go find out something to do!!”

So, starting tomorrow, we are going to have to get creative in what our activity options for the rest of this week are!!! I need to pretend we are hanging out of the beach house (oh, how we miss thee!), and do the same kind of things that we would do if we were there!!

An update on my To-Do List from today is:

  • Blog – Done
  • Walking plan – 3 miles – DONE!!! YEAH!!!
  • Track Food – Done
  • Drink 2 Liters of water – Working on it!
  • File my stack of creative paperwork – Started
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour – Done
  • Write letter to my sponsor child – Done
  • Mail it – No
  • Organize bills – Started
  • Update electronic monthly bill tracker – Started
  • Finish Laundry – Done (Thank you, Honey!!!)
  • Eyebrow wax appointment – Rescheduled to next week
  • Bathe Faye – Done
  • Bathe Sophie – Done
  • Sort all magazines (HUGE project!!) – Started
  • Create a journal bookmark for my planner – No
  • Go swimming with Jason – make time for play!!! – No
  • Go to bed by 11 – That is still the goal!

I am getting ready to go upstairs and get some more filing done!!

In the meantime…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

Good Morning!

I am up! I am dressed! and I am raring to go!!!

I have a lot of actions that I need to take if I am going to accomplish my 60 Day Life Makeover goals:

  1. Lose 20 pounds
  2. Sock away an extra $1000 into savings
  3. Find a church home
  4. Clean, organize, and purge our entire home of unloved and/or unused belongings from top to bottom
  5. Purchase and refinish one piece of furniture to sell to get the ball rolling on getting paid to do what I love

My To-Do List for today is:

  • Blog
  • Walking plan – 3 miles
  • Track Food
  • Drink 2 Liters of water
  • File my stack of creative paperwork
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour
  • Write letter to my sponsor child
  • Mail it
  • Organize bills
  • Update electronic monthly bill tracker
  • Finish Laundry
  • Eyebrow wax appointment
  • Bathe Faye
  • Bathe Sophie
  • Sort all magazines (HUGE project!!)
  • Create a journal bookmark for my planner
  • Go swimming with Jason – make time for play!!!
  • Go to bed by 11

Whew!! Let’s see how much of that I can get done today!!! I have already gotten dressed and ready for my 3-mile walk!!! WHOO-HOO!!! My goal today is to find the fun in any task or situation, and to honor the child inside of me by consciously making time to play as I get these actions done!

I will let you know how it goes this evening!!

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

An Eye-Opening Dream!

I just awoke from a late-in-the-day nap, and had the most AMAZING dream! This is really HUGE news to me, because I am an uber-creative person and I have somehow lost the ability to dream, which is REALLY FRUSTRATING!!!

Anyway, I dreamed I was spending the day hanging out with the most zany, eccentric, and FABULOUSLY CREATIVE artists. There was a textile artist, an architect, an interior designer, a multi-media artist, and a party planner. My role in this dream was as investigative reporter; I was able to ask them as many questions as I could think of: how did they get started? what inspires them? what advice would you give to a newbie artist? etc. etc.

Wouldn’t that JUST BE THE BEST JOB EVER!!! To be able to spend the day with people that intrigue you, asking them all sorts of questions and just soaking up their answers!?!??! To someone who LOVES to collect information, that would be PHENOMENAL!!! I think I may have just found my life’s calling!! I would love to hear your thoughts!!!

As for my to-do list from today:

  • Blog – Done (twice!)
  • Walking plan – 3 miles – took a nap instead! (SAD, I KNOW!!)
  • Track food – Done
  • Drink 2 Liters of water – Done
  • Spend at least an hour filing paperwork – Done (Actually spent about 6 hours doing this)
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour – Done first thing this morning!
  • Write letter to sponsor child – Sadly, not done yet!
  • Schedule teeth cleaning appointment – Done
  • Schedule yearly exam – Done
  • Schedule mammogram – will do at yearly exam
  • Order credit reports – will do tomorrow
  • Organize this month’s bills – Will do in the morning
  • Create/update electronic monthly bill tracker – Started
  • Catalog paper books – I am going to save this one for a time when my sister can come over and help me do this!
  • Laundry – Started
  • Sort Magazines for donation/Recycling – Have not started yet!

Whew!!! I am glad I snuck that nap in, I REALLY needed that!!! For tomorrow, I have to make walking, and the letter to my sponsor child my number one and two priorities!!

I also want to make sure I update my read list for 2011, which means I will have to remove my read list of 2010 from my sidebar. So, I don’t lose this, I thought I would post this, one last time, here:

1. City of Bones
2. The Lightning Thief
3. Pride & Prejudice
4. City of Ashes
5. City of Glass
6. Burned
7. Queen of Your Own Life
8. Eat Your Way to Health
9. Artemis Fowl
10. The Sea of Monsters
11. The Titan’s Curse
12. Battle of the Labyrinth
13. The Last Olympian
14. Suddenly Supernatural School Spirit
15. The Tapestry
16. The Red Pyramid
17. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
18. The Name of This Book Is Secret
19. Curly Girl
20. To Love a Rogue
21. Success Principles
22. The French Woman’s Guide to Style
23. The Five Dysfunctions of a Team
24. Clockwork Angel
25. The Lost Heroes
26. Give It Up! My Year of Learning to Live Better with Less

I had so much fun reading these. This is not my all-time-high, 26, but I think this was a good compromise!!! This, for me, averages to about reading 1/2 an hour most days. The most books I have ever read in one year was 49, and I felt like I was basically doing nothing but reading all year!!! Let see what books I read this year!!

I also want to add a list of links to my favorite blogs on my side-bar! I am going to have to get knowledgeable on how more of these link-y things work, so wish me luck!!!

On a side note: I wanted to give a shout out to my little sister, Jennifer – I am currently savoring one of the crystal candies you gave me at Christmas – honey, you KNOW that those are my favorite!!! THEY MAKE ME SOOOO HAPPY!!! I love you!

Until tomorrow…

Have a FABULOUS evening!! 😉