LIGHT : february

Here is this month’s update with my relationship to one little word (light).

spiritual

I feel kind of weird discussing my spiritual “progress” or lack of, since it’s a matter of the heart. I know that my actions matter, but I am not necessarily judged by them. Anyway, in the future I might leave this section off of these monthly updates unless I really have thoughts. For now I just want to note that Scripture memory is harder than it seems, and I still believe it all comes down to prayer (which I am not very good at).

physical

what’s been going well : I am done with long-distance races for now, and I’m pretty happy about it. David and I had a talk about health that was encouraging, and I’m hoping it leads to positive changes for our whole family.

still weighing on me : I’m in a transition phase at the moment; going from training hard for a half marathon to more of a sustainable whole-body fitness routine. I’m still figuring out what that will look like for me, but right now I’m thinking of cardio 3x per week and strength training 3x per week. Not necessarily on the same days. Once I know what’s working for me I’ll devote a post to it.

emotional

what’s been going well : Private journaling has been really helpful with decreasing the noise and chaos I sometimes feel in my mind. Now that I’ve started making nagging tasks monthly goals, I find that it’s kind of addicting to check them off and I’ve already tackled some extra ones. Our schedule has calmed down a ton and I’ve had much more time to rest and be productive.

still weighing on me : Being productive also leads to me becoming inspired to do more and more, so my list of goals becomes longer and longer. I have to struggle to be okay with projects that are in progress. I’m still somewhat stressed about finances in a big picture way, and my work PTO is at an all-time low (as in I have none).

relationships

what’s been going well : David and I had two date nights this month! We’ve also had a bunch of fun family outings. And although it’s very difficult to know how to handle Meredith’s tantrums, we started some new tactics to deal and so far it’s at least helpful to have a plan.

still weighing on me : Having a spirited, strong-willed child means I have a lot of battles in my life. I battle with her over many things, but more importantly with myself. I battle to stay patient. I battle to be compassionate with her 3-year-old struggles. I battle to stay calm and keep the anger at bay. I battle to not feel guilty over how we discipline, why she isn’t compliant, what she eats, the fact that it’s my own daughter who seemingly brings out the worst in me. I hope that she also brings out the best in me, but I don’t know. This phase of parenthood is hard.

creative

what’s been going well : I’m slowly but surely getting caught up on projects! Having a plan and only working on one “extra” thing at a time is very helpful. (Right now it’s my Week in the Life album.) Knitting lessons are happening soon, and I’m pretty excited.

still weighing on me : Just wanting to do all the things at once! But really I’ve been in a good place with this.

In class this month we were prompted to create a vision board. I used to do projects like this back in high school and college! It was pretty fun to cut and paste things again. Here is what it looks like:

I made my board on an 18 x 24 canvas. For the scripted word “light” I got creative. I knew I wanted it on there as a title of sorts, but I don’t have a machine to do cut files. So I just printed the word out (font is Blackjack), cut it with precision scissors, traced it (mirror-image style) onto white cardstock, then cut again.

This was the only prompt in the class for February, so the album updates were minimal. I took a photo of the canvas and had it printed 8×10 to put it inside.

Then on the back I printed out this perfect word art that Ali Edwards shared on her site.

I just added a simple cork star.

Then there is this mini page which I am using to hold monthly reflection cards. I will add to this as the months go on and I may move these pages around.

That’s it for now! This is one of my favorite projects in a long time. :)