
I live pretty close to a wonderful book store which regularly hosts awesome author events. I always intend to go, but rarely actually go. I had planned to go to the Maggie Steifvater reading this week but then Tuesday was long and tiring and I wanted to bail (as I often do.)
I dragged myself out of the house to do it and I am so glad I did. She was fantastic and hilarious and the hour I spent there made me laugh and smile and made me love her even more.
Now I can’t wait to read her book!
More importantly, this is a reminder for me to go even when I don’t feel like going!
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This card says: Be Open. I know you are scared. I know you are worried that you will stop. That it will all go back to the way it was. That you’ve tried and failed so many times. But choose to be open to the possibility that it’s going to be okay. That this time can be different.
Maybe not. but maybe so.
Twenty Mantras is a Monthly Project for October 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.

Weekly Intention: Assuming all goes okay with my flights, I am in Seattle all week this week for work. I will arrive back home very late Friday nights and hopefully my parents will already be in town. My intention this week (as is always the case when I travel for work) is to get a ton of work done so I feel that the trip was worth being away from my family. I also have the intention to find some form of exercise daily, to eat really well and to take some time for myself to step back and make some schedule changes+plans for the next few months. Let’s see how much of this will be possible.
Things I want to get Done: Here’s the list for his week.
- Work: stay on top of email.
- Work: have an awesome summit
- Work: do posters
- Work: spend time on T and get set for 2018
- Work: get to the next level of planning for C
- Work: maybe see my friend Radhika if I get lucky
- Personal: exercise every day while in Seattle.
- Personal: eat clean clean clean.
- Personal: Journal three times.
- Personal: Do mapmaker #12
- Personal: Do Brene art 2
- Personal: Start scheduling November art
- Personal: Continue with the new scrapping/storytelling system. Make sure Jake takes photos.
- Family: do math+spelling with N
- Family: make a plan with D
- Family:Make lunches for when I am gone
- Family: Check in regularly with my nephews and my sister.
- Family: take photos!
- Family: Spend time with mom and dad!
This month’s intention is: Shine On: You’re doing great. You made it through September. The year is starting its countdown and you can do this. Remember to keep going. Shine on. Don’t stop now. Just one day at a time. Just one day at a time, indeed.
Ways to Shine this week:
- One: Bold: Bold at work. Show up. Take advantage of the 1-1 time, ask the hard questions.
- Two: Open: Open to restructuring my life a bit still both at work and at home.
- Three: Heal/Nourish: Find a new class.
I am looking forward to: seeing my work friends in Seattle
This week’s challenges: This whole week will be long and intense. I hope to exercise, take some alone time and kick butt the rest of the time.
Top Goals:
- Work: making 2018 plans.
- Personal: exercise+food+journaling.
- Family: getting kids set up with a plan.
I will focus on my core desires (bold, mindful, nourish, love) by: speaking less, listening more and asking good questions this week.
This week, I will say yes to: prepping for 2018.
This week, I will say no to: quitting exercise.
I am worried that: i won’t exercise. i’ll eat poorly. i wont be able to take the time to organize my life. i won’t get enough done in Seattle. It will have been a waste. i’ll disappoint even more people. i am still feeling worried in general lately because i feel more disconnected and like i am dropping more things on the floor.
This week, I want to remember: that i am lucky and lucky and lucky.

How I shone this week: I think this week was a little better than the last few weeks. Monday was a tough day for me, Tuesday was better but then David fell at school and has been in so much pain. I’ve tried to be gracious, hardworking, and grateful all week. But I feel I am at another juncture where I need to step back and re-jiggle my schedule and life a bit and can’t seem to find the time to do it. I will be away on a business trip next week so that could give me some time or it could end up being even busier than usual. If I get lucky, I plan to use some of that time to design my schedule better.
Things I wanted to get Done:
- Work: wasn’t great about email this week but I cleaned it up all on Friday so I’ll call this a win. Did the deck and plan and email. Doing the posters. Evaluating results and booked SYD totally. Haven’t made plan for life in SEA fully but I did send a blender to my hotel so I am determined to make things work. I also plan to go to the gym every morning. Here’s to hoping it is so.
- Personal: exercised 5 times, didn’t eat much better (but not poorly), journaled twice, did mapmaker 11, and started brene’s art. came up with a plan for november, didn’t do donations or taxes, did do the scrapping system.
- Family: did math with N but not spelling. Did not finish plan for D though came up with another plan too. Went to third grade coffee. Checked in with my family often. Took photos and will make lunches on Saturday.
I celebrate: new beginnings.
I am grateful for: I am feeling an overwhelming amount of gratitude this week. for all aspects of my life. deeply thankful. my kids, my husband, my manager, my parents, my sister, my nephews, my friends, i am just all around full of gratitude.
I nourished myself by: some solid connection with friends this week.
Reflecting on my worries: I exercised. i ate okay. i am not super behind, catching up. david was okay. i’m trying to give more attention to nathaniel. not totally bad news. i’ve been okay but the disconnected feeling is still there. i plan to work on it more.
I let go of: looking good to others and focused on doing what’s right for me.
Core Desire Check-in (bold, mindful, nourish, love):
- bold: taking a new exercise class on tuesday when my usual plan was canceled.
- mindful: mindful that i need to step back and plan my life
- nourish: i need more sleep.
- love: i love the gratitude i am feeling lately.
What made me laugh this week: My friend Tamara and I laughed so much.
What I tolerated this week: still rushing a bit too much between school and work.
My mood this week was: grateful.
I forgive myself for: being sad on Monday.
What I love right now: i love that i took an impromptu walk with my neighbor and her friend on Tuesday night. go me.
Here’s to a great week 42. We’re down to 10 weeks until it’s the end of this year!
This card says: Be consistent. The game is consistency here. Doing it every day. Getting up and choosing it even when you don’t want to. No need to do 2 hours or eat nothing. Just show up every day and be consistent. You will see that it always pays off in the end.
Also the impact has a cumulative effect. Consistency wins the game.
Twenty Mantras is a Monthly Project for October 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
    Some solid reading this week. I still have 30+ books checked out from the library and don’t really have hope of catching up to my list. But this also gives me more variety and makes me feel less pressure about finishing books I don’t like.
Flesh and Bone and Water was really different for me. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly while bit I liked it. I am glad I read it.
I had checked out I Liked my Life from the library a while back and never read it. This time, I was in the mood for it. I knew it would be light which is sort of was but it also was sad and heavy in parts. I am not sure if there’s meant to be a twist toward the end (which i totally guessed) but it was not an important part of the plot for me. I still liked the book.
The Ninth Hour was a slog to get through. I really don’t know why I continued to read it. It made me so very sad. She’s an amazing writer, yes, but I just can’t read these types of stories anymore.
Since We Fell had also been on my pile before but I’d not managed to read it. The only other Lehane I read was Mystic River which I really loved. I am not a huge mystery fan but Lehane does an incredible job of character development and this book was no exception. I think it wasn’t as good as Mystic River but I still liked it.
New People was also one I’d checked out before and felt uncompelled to read. This time I finished it pretty quickly and actually liked bits of it mostly because it was really interesting to read about characters so wildly different than I am. I also really loved the ending.
Nothing absolutely amazing this week but I have some great ones on my pile that I am really excited to read.
Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This card says: Make Space. You have no time. No one has any time. You never had any time. Except you do of course. This is not about having time. It’s about “making” time. You make space for this in your schedule. that’s how this works.
We all have the same 24 hours in the day. It’s what we do with our 24 that matters.
Twenty Mantras is a Monthly Project for October 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.

Mind:
- I read: Since I often write the same things here (how i read books but nothing else) I’ve been wondering if I should be removing this section. It was originally intended for articles I find online that I might want to remember. But alas I read none.
- I learned: I’m almost all caught up in Stephanie’s class which is amazing. I’ve also watched all the videos of the three Courageworks classes I’d signed up for. I still have to do the art for them but I’ve listened to the content and, of course, it was fantastic.
- I watched: I didn’t watch any TV so far but I have a lot piled up in the Tivo and can’t wait to sit and watch Scandal, This is Us and a few others.
Body:
- Exercise: I did six classes this week:
- Monday:Body Pump
- Tuesday: Pilates
- Wednesday: Pilates
- Thursday: gBarre
- Friday: Body Pump Express and Pilates.
I haven’t begun any of the things that I mentioned last week but I also haven’t forgotten about them. I need to interlace them into my schedule.
- Food:
- I’ve been doing an okay job with smoothies. I did some variation this week but not a lot.
- I’ve had decent food and less than usual chocolate. But I’ve also been pretty lax with other tidbits here and there and I’d like to be better because it’s not too hard to slip from one small thing to many. So I think it’s better to be conscious all the time and make the healthier choices again and again.
- Body Care:
- I did soak my feet once this week but that’s all i’ve done so far!
Soul:
- I rested: I slept a bit less than usual this week. Most nights I made it to bed between 10:30-11 instead of 10. Which seems like a little but it is not enough for me. I plan to do better this week.
- I connected: with my friend on Thursday. We’ve made a recurring date to connect on Thursdays for now and it’s been really good for my soul.
- I journaled: I did journal for MapMaker but not much else. I want to do more for mapmaker, some for brene’s class and some just for me.
- I made art: I caught up for my mapmaker class but it’s time to think about November art and I have no plans. The small plans I had didn’t work out. Any ideas for me for November?
- Flowers: I bought lots of beautiful flowers, I’ve loved adding this into my life. Worth every penny.
So grateful for my progress, I have more shots on instagram though not that many recently.
Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This card says: Push Harder. It’s okay to take it easy when you need to but it’s also okay to push harder every now and then. It’s ok to understand your limitations and to test them. See if you have improved. See if you can do better now. Give yourself that nudge occasionally. Push a little harder.
We can’t tell if we can now do what we couldn’t before, unless we try.
Twenty Mantras is a Monthly Project for October 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.

Nathaniel started a new school this year. He was the only newcomer to the Third Grade and I wasn’t sure how it was all going to play out. He’s pretty outgoing and pretty easygoing so I was optimistic that things would be okay but I wasn’t sure. As it worked out, he has been adjusting fine for the most part (thankfully).
There are many things I love about this new school but one of my favorite things is the Weekly Reflection letters he writes each Friday (I know it will come as a shock to you that I like exercises that help you reflect, he hee!) These lovely hand-written letters come in a lovely, colored envelope each week and contain tidbits from his week. He also writes a glow (something he’s proud of) and a grow (an area of improvement) each week.
These letters are the highlight of my week and I savor them. I am so grateful to his teachers for creating such a wonderful memento for this scrapping mom and giving the kids an opportunity to reflect each week.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
This card says: Show up. If you can only do one thing, it’s this one. Show up. You have to show up to your life. To the things that matter. You have to participate in shaping it the way you want it to turn out. The universe has your back but you must show up.
I show up to so many things but not always to my own life. I need to remember this one the most.
Twenty Mantras is a Monthly Project for October 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.

Weekly Intention: I fly to Seattle for work at the end of this week so I won’t have a solid weekend and lately weekends are where I catch up on my life and even work. I also have promotion committee all Monday which means I have a foreshortened week. More reason to be super-diligent about getting things done this week. My plan is to use my time effectively. To sleep a lot. To eat really super well since who knows what will happen in Seattle. To get solidly on track since I know stuff will pile up while I am in Seattle and when I get home my parents will be here so I will want to spend time with them. So intention is to be productive, spend a ton of time with boys, and self-nourish.
The next few weeks have some culminations for our family. Things we’ve been working on and we’ll get to see the results, so I am also praying and hoping for some good results and the ability to handle whatever comes with grace and self-compassion.
Things I want to get Done: Here’s the list for his week.
- Work: stay on top of email.
- Work: do the deck + come up with plan + email.
- Work: do posters
- Work: evaluate form results x2
- Work: finish booking SYD
- Work: make plan for life in SEA
- Personal: exercise 6/7 times.
- Personal: kick it up a notch with eating clean.
- Personal: Journal three times.
- Personal: Do mapmaker #11
- Personal: start Brene’s art
- Personal: November art plan
- Personal: donate + cash check + call for taxes
- Personal: Continue with the new scrapping/storytelling system.
- Family: do math+spelling with N
- Family: make a plan with D
- Family: go to 3rd grade coffee for Nathaniel
- Family: Check in regularly with my nephews and my sister.
- Family: take photos!
- Family: Make lunches for when I am gone.
This month’s intention is: Shine On: You’re doing great. You made it through September. The year is starting its countdown and you can do this. Remember to keep going. Shine on. Don’t stop now. Just one day at a time. Each time these are the best reminders.
Ways to Shine this week:
- One: Bold: Bold with getting things done this week.
- Two: Open: Open to restructuring my life a bit, my schedule seems exceptionally bad.
- Three: Heal/Nourish: Do at least 2 new self-care items this week.
I am looking forward to: spending time with my boys.
This week’s challenges: Monday will be a long day. Here’s hoping it doesn’t throw off the whole week.
Top Goals:
- Work: getting C+T teams into a routine.
- Personal: exercise+food+journaling.
- Family: time with kiddos.
I will focus on my core desires (bold, mindful, nourish, love) by: being kinder when i speak, having some perspective.
This week, I will say yes to: revising my calendar a bit.
This week, I will say no to: wasting bits of time.
I am worried that: i won’t exercise. i’ll continue not eating well. i will fall even more behind. david will be sad. i won’t give enough attention to nathaniel. i will get bad news for me. i’ll disappoint even more people. i am just feeling worried in general lately because i feel more disconnected and like i am dropping more things on the floor.
This week, I want to remember: that i am just one person and while i like to do a lot of things it’s good to be clear on what matters most and give myself grace on doing the other things less well.
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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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