karenika

The Time is Now You can Do it

This is March’s Write.Click.Scrapbook layout. I used all The Girls’ Paperie products. I love her new lines so much. This month’s theme is to finish an incomplete project. I decided to interpret it personally and chose a project from my life. I’ve always wanted to be in good shape, exercising, and eating well. In October 2010, I finally started to tackle it and I am still facing it head on. So here’s me completing this project of getting healthy for life. (Ok maybe it will never be complete, per se, but it’s fully underway.)

The Journaling Reads:
For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to lose weight. I’ve been trying and dieting and whining my whole life. And then suddenly this year I decided enough was enough. If I was going to do this now is the time. For once and all. It’s time to give it all I have and then see what happens. To try with all my being. Put in a truly honest effort in all ways. It’s been only a few months but I am already more than halfway there. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you truly set your mind to it. No more try, it’s time to do.

2011 Priority List and Goals – February Check-in

I thought it might be a good idea to review my goals at the end of each month and see if I am still making sure to prioritize them. I also thought this would be a good time to shift, adjust, add, take away as needed. So here we go. This is the list I posted on January 1 with status updates for February.

Family
1. Read and do workbooks with David daily (Project A Book A Week with David).
Still doing well here. Even though David sometimes whines and fidgets a whole bunch, I think he’s really enjoying this project and now he hears references to things we’ve read and I can see how he’s excited. Like he heard “Emerald City” in a commercial recently and also saw a reference to Aslan and picked up on both.

2. Take photo of full-family and write updates weekly (Project Us Right Now).
This is also still going great. I bought a second remote since the first was not working and this one is great and we’re having a ton of fun. I can’t wait until the weather is warmer so we can try more outdoor shots.

3. Write a daily diary of us + gratitude (Project Daily Diary)
Still on a roll on this one.

4. Start a family night where we all play games or watch movies together (Scheduled for Sunday nights 6pm)
This, too, is going strong. We skipped a few weeks due to visitors and birthdays but we’re back on track now.

5. Sign up for a mommy/me class with Nathaniel (this still needs to be scheduled)
I haven’t done this though I do still think it’s a great idea. I need to work on it.

6. Schedule minimum bimonthly date nights with Jake
We’ve gone out on two date nights in February and have another one coming up. We’ve also had some date nights at home sitting together and cuddling.

Health (Project Healthy For Life)
1. Do a combination of walking and running daily, work your way up to 5K a day
So far, so good on this one, too. I’ve exercised at least 2.7 miles every single day in February for a total of 75.72 miles.

~~2. Complete the 100 pushups schedule~~
well this is off the list.

3. Do strength exercises 3x a week
I haven’t started this. Still not sure on this one. But won’t start in March. Likely April.

4. Track exercise+food+sleep+water using the fitbit
I am still tracking sleep and exercise.

5. Get minimum 7hours of sleep every night and 8 on the weekends
I am doing relatively well on this still. 7-8 hours most nights!

6. Eat at least one serving of vegetables daily and chicken/fish 3 times a week
Doing well on the veggies. Need to do better on the chicken.

7. Walk at least 8500 steps a day and work your way up to 10,000
According to the fitbit, my February average is pretty good. I am doing ok here. I should walk more and will try to add a 15-20 min walk a few times a week.

8. Walk/Run a 10K
This is more like a November goal 🙂

9. I also want to work on the coffee+graham crackers intake but not sure of the plan here yet.
Bleh. Still drinking 2-3 coffees but I am working on the graham crackers. I did not do so well in February, however.

Art + Photography
1. Draw and paint a portrait six days a week (Project Six Portraits a Week)
Drew them six a week all February. Likely changing direction for March.

2. Art journal weekly (Project Weekly Art Journal)
So far, so good. All Soul Restoration in February.

3. Sketch something small daily (15-30mins)
I am working on this. This is what might take #1’s space. I have sketched about 6 pages in February. I have plans for March too.

4. Go on a Monthly photo excursion alone or with a photo buddy
I did this but not with a buddy. Just as part of my trip with my inlaws.

5. Write weekly extended photo articles on my blog
Ugh. No work done on this one.

6. Figure out for once and all if I want an etsy shop and what will go in it
no progress here either.

Scrapbooking
1. Create one layout a week just for me
I’ve been doing this. Sort of…

2. Do monthly The Girls’ Paperie layouts
Done here, too.

3. Do monthly Pink Paislee layouts
And here. I am all over this.

4. Do monthly Creative Therapy layout
Did the layout for February and the one for March even.

5. Do monthly Write.Click.Scrapbook layout + write one more week during 2011
Did all of them up until May.

6. Successfully teach all four scheduled 2011 classes at Big Picture Classes and the one I am a part of in Masterful Scrapbook Design
So far so good! Both MSD classes are finished. So is Embrace Imperfection. In the middle of Finding Your Way now.

7. Aim to do 5-6 guest design spots or classes (that I teach) this year
I guested on Scrapbook and Cards Today blog in February and also on Making Memories. I have one more coming up in March. So far, so good.

8. Submit to one magazine a month (maybe, I can’t decide if I want to do this just yet.)
I submitted in January and one of my layouts got picked up for Scrapbook Trends. I also submitted a few in February. Let’s see.

Reading
1. Read a book a week (Project A Book a Week)
2. Read one book with David each week (Project A Book a Week with David)
3. Regularly attend both book clubs
All three of these are going great and right on schedule.

Writing
1. Write at least one long thought/idea oriented blog post a week
I’ve been working on these. I think I did relatively well with this in February.

2. Write one new class (if you have requests, please share)
3. Write one downloadable pdf for my site or etsy (if you have requests, please share)
I haven’t done either of these yet.

4. Write+email a newsletter each month
Doing this so far! Next one goes out in a few hours 🙂

5. Possibly do NaNoWriMo (not sure of this one…)
We still have quite some time till November thankfully!!

I decided to add one more here mostly because it’s been so beneficial during January.
6. Journal at least 5 times a day. Even if just for 15 minutes a day.
I am still working on this. I didn’t do as well in February as I did in January but I am still journaling and trying to make time for it each day. I’ve also begun a daily art journal in February and did it every single day. More on this coming soon.

Learning
1. Learn to draw and paint portraits (Project Six Portraits a Week)
Working on this one, see above.

2. Take 5-6 online classes this year
I’ve already taken 8 this year. I believe I have no problem meeting this goal!

3. Learn to write an iPhone/iPad application (sort of out there but achievable – let me know if you have an app you want)
Ah. Didn’t make any progress here.

4. Learn how to make a stop-motion movie
No progress here either. Though I have an idea.

For March, I am going to try to make a sketch a day. Let’s see if it works.

Community (This is a particularly hard one for me.)
So this area was a struggle for me last month and I decided it might be best to revamp it. Here’s what’s left now:
1. Do a weekly-open house for Nathaniel’s moms group
I just sent the email for this. So none in February but looking good for March.

2. Invite guests over for dinner at least once a month
We didn’t have anyone over but we did go into the city to have dinner with friends so that counts.

3. Go out to breakfast/lunch once a month (to work or elsewhere)
I did this in February and will aim for it in March as well.

4. Reach out to people I admire more often (leave more comments/send emails)
I’ve sort of been doing this in the form of offering help and will continue to do so.

And that’s it for February. Overall, I think I did pretty okay. Let’s see how productive March is.

Daily Diary – February 28 2011

Wow. I am glad the weekend was quiet because today was anything but. Nathaniel woke up in hysterics at 5am and would not go back down. So I gave up and got up. Then it was breakfast, reading, taking David to the bus and exercising.

Nathaniel wasn’t really interested in letting me take photos today.

I worked all day and then we picked up David who was kind enough to let me take a photo.

then he made his silly faces.

You can barely see it but Nathaniel imitated him seconds later. (wouldn’t do it again for me to take a photo!)

Then, as David and I read more Nathaniel slipped and busted his lip. Which let into hysterics. I cleaned him and then hugged him for a long time. Then I had to rush and do the Chrome release so he sat to eat but of course was in pain.

Thankfully Daddy came home around this time and life was so much better. It took a while and quite a bit of drama but both of the kids went to sleep and now I am ready to pass out. Except that I have 6 more items on my todo list. Oh well. Some days are just like that!

By the way, if you’re on the edge about my class, you only have two more days to sign up. Now or never.

Also just a few more hours to sign up for the newsletter as the March one mails out in less than 5 hours.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I managed to push out the dev channel. Phew.
2. I am grateful for a few quiet hours before it’s sleep time for me. I plan to fill them with art and journaling.
3. I am grateful for new lessons in both my sketching and mixed media class. I love watching all the videos and look forward to them excitedly.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we played monster truck racers {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that i have p.e. tomorrow
3. I am grateful that i get to do another page in my washington book

I Often Wish you Could Talk But Even More so During these Sad Moments

I had the honor of being the December 2010 Guest designer for October Afternoon. This is one of the layouts I made for them.

Journaling Reads:
My sweet boy, I know that you will eventually talk and tell us everything on your mind but for now I have to try and guess or observe you very closely so I can attempt to deduce what you’re thinking or what you want. On any day, this is hard and I can’t wait until you can articulate your own wishes. But especially hard on days when I see you sad, pensive and frowning. I want to reach into your head and read all your sad thoughts so I can make them go away. I know you will soon talk so for now I just do what I can: hold you tight and kiss you.

Details:

The Class Seat Winner – I am so Sorry!!!

Oh my! I absolutely hate it when other people do this! When they say “winners will be announced on so and so day” and then never announce it! I am so so so sorry. I apologize from the bottom of my heart. (I so wish one of you would have called me on it, please do so if I ever do this again! I am so deeply sorry.)

With that, the winner of the seat in my class is: Jana Oliveira (Jana_NJ)

Jana, I’ve already emailed Kayce at BPC and she’s super fast so I imagine you will have access very soon!

A huge thanks to all of you for your kind comments. I am deeply grateful for every single kind comment and encouragement. And I apologize, once again, for my tardiness: I really feel terrible about it.

Daily Diary – February 27 2011

I am thankful for weekends like this. Quiet-paced, low on stress, high on family time, and peace. Lots of peace. I slept in late this morning because Nathaniel woke up shrieking at 5am and it took me a while to calm him down. So we both fell back asleep right after it. I then began my morning routine of checking mail, exercising, family photo and reading to David. Then I worked on my sketching and then a layout. The little boy was given two chances to nap but he didn’t take either of them.

Here are some from our morning: Nathaniel thrilled to have the remote and David, bummed.

Daddy sneaking a kiss and look at that little boy’s face.

Tickle time!!

When we were done, David wanted a turn with the remote since he hadn’t gotten one earlier.

And Nathaniel ran away with my lens cap so I had to snap this and then chase him down.

The day ended with family time where we played Monopoly Jr. twice. I won once and Daddy the second time. Then it was time for David to go to bed (and Nathaniel who was definitely melting down due to not having had a nap). Now I am processing photos, watching the Oscars and feeling so thankful for my life. Tomorrow starts David’s school and a hectic week at work. I will cherish these few hours of quiet and peace.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a wonderful weekend.
2. I am grateful for Oscars. I remember watching them at 6am as a little kid. Always loved the Oscars.
3. I am grateful there’s one more day in February. The idea of March is a bit haunting for me and I am not sure why. Alas one more day.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we played monopoly jr. {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that mommy got me a few iphone games
3. I am grateful that i played with nathaniel

Reading with David – Holes

David says:
I gave this story five stars because it had a happy ending.

I liked Zero because he helped dig Stanley’s hole when Stanley was teaching him how to read. I liked Stanley because he taught Zero how to read. I also liked that Zero dug Stanley’s hole when Stanley said he stole the sunflower seeds (even though he didn’t steal them) and got in trouble.

I didn’t like the Warden because she made them all dig. I liked Mr. Sir and Mr. Pendanski because they filled the kids’ canteens with water.

My favorite part was when Stanley and Zero got a lot of money. My second favorite part was that they found all those jewels. I also liked that they found the treasure box. And that Zero found his

Reading a book a week with my six-year-old son David is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Daily Diary – February 26 2011

The greatest part of today was that I had absolutely nothing that had to get done. I still made a list and still completed most of the items on it but I felt relaxed all day because nothing was nagging me. Since it was Saturday, after I exercised, we took some family photos. Here’s David playing while I am setting the camera up.

Here’s a fun shot which was technically not so great and the boys are not looking at the camera. But it’s still wonderful.

And here’s Daddy sneaking in a kiss while Nathaniel tries to steal the remote.

Then the little boy napped while the rest of us began our day. I worked a bit on my newsletter and finished up my digital downloads. I then did some sketching and some drawing. I will write more up about both soon. When the little boy woke up, we took a long walk in the neighborhood and I stopped to snap a photo of my boys.

Then we came home, rested, ate a bit, and David went back to playing Wii.

The day ended with a trip to Target so we could restock on fruit and veggies. The kids went to bed and it’s almost time for me to go, as well. All in all, relaxing day full of art. I can’t ask for anything more really.

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that I sketched today, it was a great feeling.
2. I am grateful for a wonderful family walk. I am definitely in better shape thanks to the daily exercise and I am grateful for that, too.
3. I am grateful that we went shopping. Having fresh fruit at home makes snacking much easier and healthier.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that it was my wii day {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I got some extra wii time today
3. I am grateful that daddy’s teaching me about logic gates

Us Right Now – February 26

jake
A rough week for Jake this week. Just a lot of work and trying to get everything organized and all the loose ends coordinated. Things are going to get easier. We just need to be patient and try to do one thing at a time. Which is always hard. He helped me so much on Thursday by sitting at home with the kids so I could go to the office and get a ton of work done. I look forward to more of that.

karen
This was awesome! I decided on Monday night while I was journaling that things would only start getting better at work if I decided to show up and do it. I shouldn’t wait until I feel more in sync. I do it and then things work out. And that’s exactly what happened. I showed up. I did the work. It got better. I was inspired. I did more work. Magic! My BPC class started this week, too. Finding Your Way. I am super-excited about it. Feeling positively great this week.

david
David was off school all week. Winter Break. He spent his days playing with his legos, reading books with me, doing workbooks, writing his gratitudes, reading to me, and playing with Nathaniel. He’s been really happy. As much as I love school, I really really love having him around. I get to sleep a bit more, he helps with Nathaniel so much and he’s such a joy to have around. I will be sad when he goes back to school next week.

nathaniel
Nathaniel has also been really happy to have David around. He’s been playing with his brother and watching him all week long. They laugh and shriek together. He loves to look through David’s books. He’s also been more vocal. He says “me” now when he wants something. He also started screaming much to my dismay. I am hoping it’s a short phase and he will abandon it soon because I don’t think I can stand it.

and here’s the card version:

Us Right Now is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

Daily Diary – February 25 2011

Today did not really go as planned. But, alas some days are like that. Work ended up going a completely different way and consumed me most of the day in a negative light. But I still exercised and read to David and, well that’s about it. But that’s ok. I will work on my newsletter tonight. Comment more in my class. Do my art journal. I did snap some photos my boys.

I love them so.

And they’ve been angels about playing quietly, wonderfully. Both together and apart.

I am still trying to figure out my plans for the portraits. I don’t really feel like doing them anymore which is a sign that something needs to change. I also want to sketch more but I haven’t been able to come up with a system I like. So I need to work on both of those. Find a way to play and look forward to it. I have too much on my list already so I don’t want to be dreading these personal goals. I want them to be fun and educational.

The plans for this weekend are wide open and I am very grateful for that. I will work on my newsletter. I have already made the digital downloads so make sure to subscribe if you want those as they are exclusive to the newsletter members. I’ve also added a button on the left for my blog. A few people asked so I wanted to make sure I did it. I think that’s it for now. I am off to rest, rejuvenate and relax. Here’s to a great weekend!

Three Things I’m Grateful For:
1. I am grateful for a tiring but good week. I feel like I made so much progress on everything this week.
2. I am grateful for kindness and art and people willing to teach and share. I feel so grateful for the internet these days.
3. I am grateful for a wide open weekend. I will try to make good use of it. Journal a bunch and make some progress on the food, sketching, portraits and newsletter. But I will also rest a bunch.

Three Things David’s Grateful For:
1. I am grateful that we finished our book {* his pick for the journal}
2. I am grateful that I played with my brother (i told him it was the last time he can use this one.)
3. I am grateful that mommy got me some new games on the iphone.

Healthy For Life – Week 8

So here we are. Another week. A little bit more weight gain. I know the 0.5 is not statistically significant and it could be error, especially since I am using the very imperfect Wii to weigh myself each week. So I am just trying to stick to the plan and not worry. This is about getting healthier and losing weight in the process. But please don’t let me fool myself, it is definitely about losing weight.

I have not been eating so well. I still eat my veggies and protein and I still don’t snack on chips, cookies, chocolate or the like. But I have been snacking more randomly and sneaking things more often than I used to. I pop pieces of things I give the kids into my mouth. I don’t keep track of the food at all. And these things add up.

So this weekend, I will focus on the food a bit more. Come up with a plan on what to snack on and how much. What to turn to when I feel hungry. I will measure my snacks into bowls and eat from those all day long so I can keep better track. I won’t sneak out of the kids’ food. I can eat more but I do have to be more aware of what I am doing. I have to pay attention. I think that is the key.

and here’s this week’s card:

Healthy for Life is a weekly project for 2011. You can read more about it here.

I should Know by now that You Always Get Your Way

This layout was for the hot hues challenge on the Pink Paislee blog.

Journaling Reads:
I’ve been trying to get in the picture more so I bought this remote and each time I try to use it with you, you always want to grab it out of my hands. When I try to get it back or keep it from you, you cry. You make these dramatic faces and will not stop until I give the remote to you. I should know by now hat you won’t relent. You always get your way my boy but I still love you so much.

Almost everything is from the new Daily Junque line.

Here’s the hot hues image: