Resolution Check-In

Well, we're one month into twenty-11, so let's take a look at how my high hopes for the year are doing, shall we?

1. create everyday--{check} this will be my "safety" for the year, the one that above all else will stick
2. remember today--{umm, almost check?} I'm not at 100%, but I'm a lot better off than I was last year!
3. be more efficient and productive--{check} I think I'm doing pretty good here, as long as you can count playing Cover Orange and Cut the Rope on my i-pod as productive!
4. drink more water--{ugh!} you would think this would be a no brainer, but I struggle so badly with this one
5. exercise regularly--{nope} I did go to Pilates once this month; if number one is my safety, this one is my "reach"
6. have more patience--{yes!} number one is helping a great deal with this.  Loving my life helps, too!
7. catch up on unfinished projects--{kinda} "catch-up" was my word for the month of January, and I had high hopes of completing lots of unfinished projects.  I didn't anticipate how many new projects January was going to throw at me.  I did manage to get all my 2010 photos organized and backed-up, no small feat, really. Which brings us to number 8:
8. organize and back-up photos monthly--{yup} January is caught up too!
9. learn something new every week--{hmmmm} I bet I have, like the other day when I learned about QR codes and created one for my blog address (see above)
10. send more cards--{whoops!} gotta get better at this one!
11. teach more classes--dropped the ball on this one 
12. read one book a month--{check} but admittedly, it was my second reading of said book
13. complete 120 LO's this year--{yippee!} 10 down, right on track for the year
14. complete an art journal--{uh uh} did one page, but I really want to fit this into my creative routine--working on this for Feb.

Well, the year is young.  There's 11 more months to perfect my resolutions!

Remember Today 1.29.11

{remember} Maddox making this house all by himself!

Remember Today 1.27.11

{remember} snow day number 4 for the month and this is the view at our house:

 

Remember Today 1.18.11

{remember} snow day for the boys, pancakes for breakfast, the family home for the day, and working on deadlines for me.  A happy and productive day (one of my favorite kind of days!).

Taken on my iPod and processed on Instagram, a free app with ultra hip and super cool filters!

Remember Today 1.17.11

{remember} discovering that one of my pages is featured on the tumblr page of Write.Click.Scrapbook.  Yippee!

Lists

I love lists.  Lists keep me organized, motivate me, and even let me sleep better at night.  Lists are quick to write, don't require a lot of words, or even a lot of thinking.  Lists can be utilitarian, like those for the grocery store, reminding, like those to-do ones, or recording, like those that name the books you've read or the cities you've visited.

Tonight I visited an inspiring blog, and thought I would adopt her idea for a bit.  She (Sherri Pelletier) did 52 lists last year, and she created each one on a mini-art journal page.  Here's the beginning of her project, and here is the ending.  I am smitten with this idea.  Sometimes I can come up with my own ideas, and well, sometimes others ideas are just too good to pass up because of the mere fact that they are not my own.
So here's my first list for 2011.  Not sure I'll be able to turn these into little works of art like Sherri, but at least my lists will be recorded:


What is on my desk right now:

• roll of crepe paper in turquoise
• pack of 4x6 photo paper
• calculator
• empty tp roll
• bottle of tacky glue tipped on its side
• corner rounder
• printed photo of my hobbies
• clipboard with calendar
• 4 CK magazines
• ATG gun
• package of multi colored binder rings
• ear phones for ipod
• memory card reader
• post-it notes
• 18" metal ruler
• book of to-do lists
• paper trimmings
• Colorbok punchout pad
• Collage Unleashed book
• envelope mini album
• sketch book
• can of spray adhesive
• paper doll notecards and envelopes (a gift from a friend)
• CK Manchester calendar of classes
• spool of pink gingham check ribbon
• and then all the other stuff that always sits on my desk: paper trimmer, cup of pens and tools, inspiration and sketch books of all kinds, external had drive, mini photo printer, laptop, set of drawers, telephone, wooden organizer, pack of pens,

Remember Today 1.15.11

{remember} making homemade ice cream with the boys using Maddox's new ice cream maker.  The boys got to lick all the utensils during the process.  Me?  I might sneak down to try a taste before bed!  We'll share the results with the fam tomorrow.

Remember Today 1.14.11

{remember} a long, jam-packed, exhausting day that began with a call from my dad that my mom was in the hospital to have her gall bladder removed, and ended with me collapsing into bed and reading two pages before conking out.  And everything in between: cleaning up the house, computer work, shopping a fab clearance sale at JoAnn's, hitting the grocery store for home-made ice cream ingredients, dashing home for lunch with Maddox, visiting a friend to talk shop about the makings of her creative space, prepping the boys for Logan's snowboarding lesson, packing for a crop, hosting the 4-hour crop, tucking the boys into bed, a late dinner at the computer, and more work.

Remember Today 1.13.11

{remember} how happy I am with my decision to purchase this little guy:

Christmas money well spent.

Remember Today 1.12.11

{remember} this is how the boys spent the better half of their snow day off from school:

Playing school in Camden's bedroom, complete with packed lunch boxes, snacks, bean bag chairs, and math worksheets.  And what school day wouldn't be complete without ipods and dsi's!

Remember Today 1.11.11

{remember} getting the phone call that school is cancelled tomorrow. Camden's response, after letting out a whoop: "Was that the big boss?"

Remember Today 1.10.11

{remember} how fantastic the boys were getting ready for school this morning, and how much easier it is to pack them up on Papa Gino lunch day.

Remember Today 1.9.11

{remember} taking a much needed bubble bath while Perry put the kiddos to bed.

Remember Today 1.8.11

{remember} having 6 boys in the house is really not much different from having 3.  I love having the boys' friends over our house.

Remember Today 1.7.11

{remember} how much Logan loved his first snowboarding lesson, and how badly I need to buy some nice warm boots (and remember the hat, scarf, mittens, hot chocolate, and the camera next time!).

Remember Today 1.6.11

{remember} how much Maddox loves to build with Legos, and how much I love building with him.

Remember Today 1.5.11

{remember} how difficult it is to get a good self portrait shot.

 

 Collage made with Shape Collage (try it, it's free, and very fun!)

Remember Today 1.4.11

{remember} ditching the to-do list to make this:

Scrumdidliumptious!

Here's the recipe I found on the Andes Candies display at the grocery store:

1. Bake a Devil's Food cake according to package directions in two round pans.
2. Use a potato peeler to shave chocolate slices from long side of Andes mint chocolate candies until you have about 1/2 cup.
3. Chop remaining candies to use in frosting including the little bits from step 2.
4. Beat 8 oz package of softened cream cheese until smooth.
5. Continue beating on low speed and add 16 oz. non dairy whipped topping (like Cool Whip).
6. Fold in chopped chocolates.
7. When cake is completely cooled, frost one layer with about half the frosting.
8. Place second layer on top and frost with remaining frosting.
9. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Enjoy!

Remember Today 1.3.11

{remember} that it's easier to keep a clean house clean than to make a dirty house clean.  Wonder how long I'll be able to maintain the declutteredness?

Remember Today 1.2.11

{remember} how good it felt to be a white tornado and get this house in order before the boys all return to school tomorrow. 

My stUdio went from this:

to this:

Tomorrow it will be time to destroy it again!

Remember Today 1.1.11

{remember} that happy feeling when you wake up and know it's the first day of a brand new year, full of possibility and potential, full of the desire to make it the best year yet!

Hello 2011! {and hello to you, long lost little blog}

Somewhere along the way, this little blog got pushed to the way-side,
shoved into a dusty corner and forgotten
to other more seemingly important tasks.
And I miss it.
I miss taking a moment to reflect on the beauty of the day;
to jot down something that I learned,
or a reminder of how each day is a gift,
or a snippet of a moment that would have otherwise been forgotten.

I miss looking back over the photographs of the everyday bits and pieces from our lives,
photographs of people who will look completely different in a year or two,
pieces of our lives that will never be quite like this again.

So this year, this brandy new, fresh and open year
I am making a promise to myself and to this blog
to dust off the {remember today's} and get back to posting here.
I promise.

January's word: Catch-Up

Last year I took on a word for the year.  I though about it, reflected on it, pondered it, strived for it, and held it close all year.  It worked out ok, but partway through the year I felt a bit locked in.  I wanted to work on other words, I wanted to focus on other areas, I wanted more.

This year, I have decided to take on a word of the month.  For the month, I will focus on this word, I will carry it into my daily living, I will sleep with it by my side at night, I will work with it and mold it into my being.

I'm easing my way into the year with an easy, not deep, no-nonsense, nothing glamorous or dramatic, word.  My word for January is





Maybe it's the feeling of coming off of the holiday rush of craziness, and that I feel like I can breathe a bit.  I feel a sort of energy around completing tasks that have been pushed aside.

Here's to January and catching-up!