Earlier this year, we went to Idaho so I could go to Brave Girls Camp. The kids were on break so they were kind enough to come with me because I didn’t want to leave everyone behind. During that trip, while I was in class all day, every day, the kids and Jake went on different adventures every day.
One of these adventures was going to a climbing wall. Before this trip, the kids had climbed walls at Fairs, etc but never all that seriously. During that one day, they had such an extraordinary time that since then we’ve had them take a week-long climbing camp and Jake has taken them to Planet Granite several times.
This past weekend, he suggested I go along just so I could see the kids climb. At first, I was all whiny about it because I generally use that time to have quiet time. When I got there, I was still not super thrilled about it. But towards the end of our time, David really came alive and started working harder and harder. And that one moment made me realize that all of the time I spent there was worth it.
It reminded me that sometimes it takes a while for us to get in the flow enough to get to a place where we really connect with something. Where we want to push ourselves harder and try more. It was such a joy to see both my kids come alive in a way I don’t usually get to.
All in all, Jake was right of course and I am really glad I went.
And I am deeply happy. I love my tree. I love the lights. I love everything about it.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
You can read the story of this project here.
And here’s another one from Brene’s class. This one is two lists, love does not and love does. Left side is does not.
Love does not:
- ask you to change
- judge
- belitte
- use sarcasm
- yell
- shame
- humiliate
- manipulate
Love does:
- accept you just as you are
- assume the best
- forgive
- patience+kindness
- meet you where you are
- unconditional
- hug
- apologize
- give you space
- give
- snuggle
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
Weekly Intention: This is a crazy week. On Monday I have back and forth between work and taking the kids to the doctor and then school and then back to work and then late night my nephew arrives! Tuesday I have work work work with a lot of meetings. Wednesday I am at the kids’ school all morning and then taking me time in the afternoon and then I expect to collapse by Wednesday night. My nephew is here for one more day after that and then I am only here one more day myself before I get on a plane to go to Sydney. Phew I got tired typing all that up. So being that this week is so much back and forth, here are my intentions:
- I want to add more nutrition to my meals. If i go to Sydney eating like this, it will get out of hand easily. Just a bit of resetting so I feel fuller and less tired.
- I want to do some exercise at home on the days we have no work (Wed, Th and Fri) and have a plan for what I will do in Sydney.
- I want to really be present with my nephew for as much time as possible with work. I am so glad he’s coming.
- I want to rest a lot for Thanksgiving and really connect with my family.
Things I want to get Done: Here’s the list for his week.
- Work: plan+organize round 3 of 2018 planning
- Work: catch up on all email
- Work: start up the doc for S
- Personal: exercise W, Th, F at home and M, Tu at work.
- Personal: make sure all 3 meals are nutritious
- Personal: make a plan for Syd + airplane.
- Personal: make 2018 plans iteration 2
- Personal: Continue with the new scrapping/storytelling system.
- Family: Attend grandparents day
- Family: hang out with Jeff!!
- Family: do coding+spelling+science with N
- Family: do calculus with D
- Family: take photos!
This month’s intention is: November: Shine for You: This is your month. Take all the time you need. Shine all your light on yourself. Be kind, practice self-care. Think about the next year and what you want. Think about the rest of this year. You’ve got this.
Ways to Shine this week:
- One: Bold: Working super hard M-Tu but then letting go.
- Two: Open: open to the possibility of completely relaxing for the latter part of this week and just connecting with my people.
- Three: Heal/Nourish: how can i help myself get on a better path for nourishment, what helps and what hurts?
I am looking forward to: my nephew, having a few days off!
This week’s challenges: Monday and Tuesday will be challenging. Also figuring out how to exercise on the holiday days, too.
Top Goals:
- Work: catching up to email.
- Personal: exercise+food+journaling.
- Family: playing and relaxing through the holidays.
I will focus on my core desires (bold, mindful, nourish, love) by: being present with each family member before I leave for my trip.
This week, I will say yes to: more family time. making a plan for the last 5 weeks of this year.
This week, I will say no to: feeling guilty or overwhelmed
I am worried that: i won’t exercise. i’ll still eat poorly, make bad choices, not get enough nutrition. i wont be able to spend enough time with Jeff. i’ll let down everyone. i won’t rest. i won’t get my energy back. i will fall even more off the line i’m trying to walk. i will mess up at work. i will frustrate my kids and hubby.
This week, I want to remember: that this is my favorite time of the year. I love it and i do get to relax. it’s all going to be okay!
How I shone this week: I could lie and say that this past week was better than the last, but honestly I am not sure that it was. My days have been going really fast and without a lot of awareness. Within each day, I am trying to make sure to do the things that matter the most for that day. I make sure to exercise, I make sure to work hard, I make sure to spend time with my kids and my husband, I read, etc. but when I put all the days together, I am not sure that they are adding up to the week I want to have. Or maybe they are and I am overthinking it. I don’t know to be honest. On Thursday this week, it poured here all day. It’s pretty atypical for that much and that kind of rain to go all day here. By early afternoon, I really didn’t want to go to the meeting at the kids’ school that I had said I would go to. But this was for Nathaniel and I feel he’s already getting the shorter end of the stick in general, so I went. I drove in the dark, in rain, in heavy traffic to get to the school early and of course in the end I was really really glad I went. I think that and the time I made sure to make for Jake this week were my shiniest moments of the week.
Things I wanted to get Done:
- Work: this was an emotionally tough week but not for me. well also for me, but not about me. we made some progress at work but not as much as I would have liked.
- Personal: exercised, scrapped, ate soso, a bunch of journaling around 2018
- Family: did Calc with David and Python and Math with Nathaniel. Went to SWI night and took photos!
I celebrate: getting a little extra social time this week.
I am grateful for: my kids’ school providing so much to them and to me.
I nourished myself by: spending extra time with friends and enjoying the company
Reflecting on my worries: I exercised. the eating issue still bothers me not even because i am eating badly, I am not eating that poorly. What bothers me has been the lack of nutrition. I did make plans for 2018 a bit so I feel better there. My energy seems to be waxing and waning. it will all be ok.
I let go of: trying to make everyone happy. i can’t do it.
Core Desire Check-in (bold, mindful, nourish, love):
- bold: bold with doing what needs to be done lately.
- mindful: mindful that i am a lot more tired than i’ve been, i think it probably does have to do with food.
- nourish: i am trying to see what more nourishment I can add here, so that i feel more energized
- love: i love that my nephew is coming this week!
What made me laugh this week: my friends, a good week.
What I tolerated this week: emotionally taxing week trying to support my colleagues.
My mood this week was: hanging in there.
I forgive myself for: trying to just make it by.
What I love right now: that I am still exercising!
Here’s to a great week 47. So few weeks left in this year!!
You can read the story of this project here.
This board is an assignment from Brene’s Brave Parenting class. I’d link you to the site but it’s shutting down so I am not sure if it’s a good idea. If you want to know what it is anyway, let me know and I’ll add the link.
This homework was about “In our house, you always have permission to:”
- make mistakes
- be exactly who you are
- be scared
- ask for help
- cry
- belong
- ask for what you want/need
- help each other
- show up for each other
- take alone time
- rest
- take risks
- nourish
- celebrate
- shine
- love
- listen + talk
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
You can read the story of this project here.
And the final assignment for WholeHeARTed Artist + MapMaker class was to think about how I want to feel as I move through my life. I wrote down all these words:
- peace
- strong
- kind
- nourished
- full
- abundant
- open
- receive
- generous
- brave
- engaged
- bold
- love
- mindful
- present
- calm
- intentional
- shine
- worthy
- loved
- joy
- light
- capable
- whole
So my board is intended to be a representation of all those. I love love loved this class and cannot recommend it enough.
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
You can read the story of this project here.
This is assignment eleven which is about friendship. I wrote a lot about the qualities of friendships I want and have in my life. Grounding, making me laugh, making me think, challenging me, comfort, kindness, common interest, common life stage, emotionally supportive. People who I can be myself with. People I look up to and learn from. People I am inspired by. People who are kind, nice and inclusive. Those are the people I want in my life.
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
      I’m a fan of Alice Hoffman and I knew I was going to like Rules of Magic and I wasn’t disappointed. She has a way with words and characters that I always find myself getting lost in her books. This one was no exception.
I am not sure what compelled me to read Reset. While I work in Silicon Valley and am no stranger to all the issues around being a woman, I am not sure Ellen Pao is my model for how to make things better. But I picked it up and started it and found myself wanting to continue. I am glad I read it but there are other people who inspire me a lot more. I especially feel inspired by a friend at work who continues to help me think differently about all of these issues and to challenge myself and the people around me and the company, too.
I then grabbed A Short History of the Girl Next Door which was a light read but not at all what it promised to be. I didn’t dislike it but I also didn’t love it.
I was looking forward to Dunbar which is the newest installment of the Shakespeare retellings. This one is on King Lear, one of the best. But alas this particular retelling didn’t speak to me. Partly because the audio was terrible and partly because I just didn’t like the plot/perspective the author took for the retelling.
I had started Almost Sisters a few months ago but never finished it. When it came up in my queue again, I decided I would finally finish it. It was okay. It was an enjoyable read. But I just want better books at the moment.
I also finally finished Grit which gave me a lot to think about around how to live my life, raise my kids and make decisions. I am still thinking about it and maybe I can find ways to incorporate it into my 2018 planning a bit.
Here’s to more reading this week!
Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Mind:
- I read: A bunch of articles but honestly none of them stick with me, and maybe that’s reason enough to stop reading? I can’t ever be sure what the right thing to do here is.
- I learned: I hope Calculus counts. A lot of my time has been going to the kids lately. Doing daily Calculus with David (and learning it all over myself) and doing Python with Nathaniel. I do want to pick up something new to learn but not sure what. I also signed up for another course with Karen Walrond because her courses always do right by me.
- I watched: Jake and I watched most of Stranger Things 2 last night. Since last weekend was a 3-day weekend for the kids, I used the opportunity to catch up on a lot of TV, too.
Body:
- Exercise: I exercised four times this week. On Friday the kids had no school and I had to go to teacher conferences so I had to miss my class.
- Monday: Body Pump
- Tuesday: Body Pump
- Wednesday: Pilates
- Thursday: Yoga
- Food: Food’s still a bit all over the place. I am still feeling wiped and lazy and not feeling in the mood to cook which means I end up making bad choices for food to eat. And while I am still pretty tired and whiny, here’s the truth: thanksgiving is coming and then I will be in Australia for a week. It will be hard enough to eat well on the plane or when I am there and if I don’t buckle down and find a way to make this work now, it will be that much harder then so it’s time. I really don’t want to put it off longer.
- Body Care: This is another area where I’ve fallen off a lot. I think it will help me to think of this more (and not less) as we go into the darker months of the year.
Soul:
- I rested: I slept better this week but not as well as when I eat well.
- I connected: I got to spend time with my friend Leslie and connected with my kids’ teachers.
- I journaled: I did not journal a word this week! But I did sign up for Karen’s journaling class and I am optimistic it will help me!
- I made art: Worked on both DD and OLW! Woot!
- Flowers: still filling my life and home with these.
Thinking that maybe the trick is not to go back to September but forward to some new normal.
Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
You can read the story of this project here.
This is assignment ten and it’s all about money. None of these photos make sense I know. Like Stephanie, I created a green theme to represent money and I kept all my thoughts on my journaling but looking at this makes me think of money and my thoughts so that’s all that matters.
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
You can read the story of this project here.
This is assignment nine and it’s all about envy. Things I am jealous of (which is things I am craving in my life.) Many of mine are about how I want to look and feel. Connection/community/companionship. Adventure/wonder. Courage and belonging. Calmness. Talent, specifically artistic talent.
So there you go.
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
We always tend to put up our Christmas Tree earlier than average (and we always tend to keep it up longer than average, too.) But this year takes the cake, I believe. I usually can wait until we’re pretty close to Thanksgiving. This year, however, I was having a really hard time with Halloween and just finding myself more and more frustrated with it.
That coupled with the fact that my parents were visiting (and that my mom loves Christmas spirit almost as much as I do) gave me the idea that we were going to put up the tree the weekend before Halloween. Then while it still looked like Halloween outside, it could look like Christmas inside and I could be happy.
So that’s what we did.
And I am deeply happy. I love my tree. I love the lights. I love everything about it.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-six
projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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