November 2016 – Today Journaling – 14

karenika.com

Journaling asks: How does my heart feel today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 13

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What is still on my list today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

A Book a Week – The Paying Guests

I read The Paying Guests for a book club. It wasn’t a book I would have ever picked up on my own but I am glad i read it. It was interesting and had several unexpected twists. I don’t read many books about that time period so that part was interesting to me, too.

I didn’t love it but I did enjoy it and this is one of the reasons I like having a book club. Especially one that doesn’t always choose books I would have naturally picked up on my own.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 12

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What is scaring me today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 11

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What overwhelmed me today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

2016 Stories – 46 – Freestyle Ribbon

Nathaniel’s been taking swimming lessons for a while, now and even though he’s a lot more comfortable in water than David was, he’s been unable to get his swimming ribbon for freestyle in a long time. During the summer, we had decided to give the classes a rest for both of them because David was done and we were leaving for Boston for three weeks. It then took me until October to finally set classes for Nathaniel and in his very first class, he finally got his ribbon!!

If I were a better mom, I’d have a photo of him holding up his ribbon but on that day, we had to rush out of there for a playdate and then I put the ribbon somewhere that I can’t find. So there we go 🙁


Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 10

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What am i packing around that i need to let go of today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

Living Intentionally – 46

  • Weekly Intention: This is the last week before Thanksgiving and I am hoping/planning to take Thanksgiving week off so my intention this week is to get a lot of work done so I can leave work in a good state. My hope is to not do any work at all for the 9 days (including both weekends) and instead use the time to wind down, be with my boys, and take care of Jake who will have surgery in the middle of that week. To be able to do that, I’d like to make sure I do a solid amount of work this week and feel good about where I leave things. On a personal note, I have three book club meetings this week (they all fell in the same week this month) and I have to go to David’s school twice and Nathaniel’s school twice, so it promises to be a full week. I’d like to start practicing patience, discipline, and kindness all week.
  • Choices I want to make:
    • One: I will choose to connect with each of the teams I work with so I can have a solid list for how I can help them.
    • Two:  I will choose to dive deeper into some of the new teams I took on during the summer.
    • Three: I will choose to see if I can make some changes in what I eat to see if it helps with the energy.
  • I am looking forward to: learning about some of the work i’ve been putting off learning about.
  • This week’s challenges:  three book clubs, two visits to each school, ortho appointment, a client meeting, a trip to work, and I still need to get a lot of work done. here’s to pulling it all off with grace.
  • Top Goals:
    • Work: Todo list and ASAP lists down to zero. Make a plan for what I will do for each team.
    • Personal: make more progress on the 2017 plan. Do the desired feelings exercise.
    • Family: make a holiday plan for the kids. ( i didn’t do this last week!) and start making lists for presents to buy.
  • I will focus on my core desires (kind, strong, true, generous, brave) by: 
    • I will be kind to some of my more neglected teams this week. I am going to try to do an extra good job.
    • I will be strong and try a new morning exercise routine every day this week.
    • I will be generous with work again. I will also be generous with my social events. Even if it means a little less generous with sleep this week.
    • I will be true to my need to be honest. Share my worries and concerns with my teams.
    • I will be brave with my honesty and vulnerability.
  • This week, I want to remember: that this is exactly why I love working from home. Because my life is layered and rich and I have no work/life balance, my work and life weave in and out of each other and I love my work, my family time, my book clubs, volunteering, reading, and my coaching. I love every bit of my life. I love all of what I do. I am lucky to get to do each of these things and I will savor it all.

Here’s to a wonderful week!

Weekly Reflection – 45

  • Three Choices I made this week:
    • One: I chose to cross off every single work todo list item I had. I stayed up late on Thursday morning and just got my whole list done. It was driving me crazy so now I am ready to build a new todo list.
    • Two: I chose to run several mornings this week but I’ve also come to the conclusion that I hate running and I just need to come up with a different exercise I can do first thing in the morning. Something I can do at home, and something short but rigorous.
    • Three: I chose to exercise my right to vote. I consider it a major privilege.
  • I read/learned: I finished Tuesday Nights in 1980, The Mothers, The Wonder, How to be a Person in the World, and I am almost done with The Versions of Us.  I am also reading The Sun is Also a Star which is wonderful so far.  I’ve have a new lecture available in the Stanford Election 2016 class that I plan to watch today, it’s a class from before the election so it will be interesting to watch it with that perspective.
  • I celebrate:  getting so much done this week.
  • I am grateful for:  the election being over. I feel a plethora of emotions and haven’t processed all of them yet but I am still grateful to be off the rollercoaster. Even if I so wish the ride hadn’t ended where it did.
  • I focused on my health by: 
    • I did run this week and walked a bit but not consistently. I need help in this area.
  • I made art:  I did not but I’ve started making plans for 2017 and I am hoping that counts. Oh and I changed the banner on my site in prep for 2017.
  • I let go of: my hopes around the results of the election. this is what it means to live in a democracy.
  • Core Desire Check-in:
    • Kind: I’ve been kind to everyone this week. It was a rough week.
    • Strong: Thankfully I don’t feel broken anymore but I do still feel too tired all the time, I know it’s food related and need to work on it.
    • True: I’ve been working on my 2017 plan and it’s been interesting thinking about what my true self wants to feel more of.
    • Generous: I was generous with work this week. I gave a lot extra to get work done.
    • Brave: I was brave to show up at David’s school this week, I didn’t want to be there, I was worried but it all worked out, of course!

Here’s to another good week! 🙂


Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 09

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What leaves me in awe today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

November 2016 – Today Journaling – 08

karenika.com

Journaling asks: What is heavy on my heart today?


Today Journaling is a Monthly Project for November 2016. All of the words belong to Melody Ross. These are a part of the Soul Comfort class in Brave Girls University, I cannot recommend it enough. Last time I took this course, I ended up doing a year-long project on this type of journaling.  You can sign up here. (I teach there, too.) You can read more about my projects for 2016 here and the pictures are all from Pinterest here.

A Book a Week – The Age of Miracles

I read The Age of Miracles because it came up in my library queue. It was one of those books I’d added to my list but never got around to reading. So when it was available at the library, I grabbed it.

I enjoyed this unique story. How it’s dystopian but not like the other ones (Hunger Games or Maze Runner, etc.) A very different story from a very different perspective.

I recommend it if YA and quiet dystopia are your cup of tea.