I’m excited to be featured today on a new favorite blog of mine, Delaney Paige. She has a recurring feature interviewing professionals about their jobs and creative hobbies. Kind of a perfect fit for me!
You can find me there today chatting about my job as a nurse, career advice, and how I fit personal projects into my life. Take a little time to check out her blog as well; we have so much in common that I bet you’ll love it like I do! Check out the feature here.
commuting almost two hours to the medical center for three days in a row because my local clinic doesn’t have enough patients.
training to help out in other areas of the hospital like pre-op and radiation.
unplugging from the computer for a whole day except to google “diep surgery” and “t&a surgery” to fill out consent forms.
getting extremely stressed out by the work uncertainty and being really grumpy as a result.
frantically texting my mom asking for prayers because I don’t feel like I can even muster the energy to get through the bedtime routine, let alone face another day.
administering antibiotics to Liam for an ear infection.
giving myself a break from cooking in order to gain a bit more time and patience.
trying to get Meredith to sleep in her own bed at night – or at least fall asleep there (it’s been two nights in a row!).
walking to the park every night.
reading a good book.
knitting a few rows each day.
signing up for a 5k so I’ll have some motivation to start running again.
finally feeling like myself again.
I’m going to break format this month for my one little word update. My primary reason for choosing the word “light” was because that’s how I want to feel on the inside. Overall I do feel that way in most areas, either making progress or doing well, but with parenting I feel like I’m going backwards. It’s been a huge struggle and I’ll probably write more about it in the days to come.
The prompt this month was all about making concrete plans and actionable steps toward multiple goals. When I thought about it, there were five areas that I wanted to make progress in that are separate from my monthly goals. I chose three actions to take for each of them, and here they are:
1 / continue using frugal real food meal plans.
2 / don’t bring into the house what we shouldn’t eat.
3 / try baking bread.
1 / purge one area or room each month.
2 / actually take stuff to goodwill.
3 / do a “no buy” month.
1 / sign up for a race (at least a 5k) every three months.
2 / run twice per week.
3 / aim for 10,000 steps per day.
1 / put a devotional book by the coffee stuff to read while it brews.
2 / begin bedtime prayers with the kids.
3 / choose one more way to volunteer.
1 / spend one-on-one time with Meredith most every day (even if just 15 minutes).
2 / go on adventures.
3 / pray for my kids and my parenting daily.
Here is what this month looked like in my album:
I printed out the handout on kraft paper and wrote on it using a white gel pen
These action items are year-long quests so right now I’m not too overwhelmed trying to fit them in.
And just like that, the first quarter of 2015 is past. I’m loving this time of year! Here’s a recap of how I did with March’s goals:
organize purse – done. I bought this and it’s been perfect.
purchase real pajamas – done. I got these and they are super comfy.
do another closet and makeup purge – I didn’t get around to it, so I’m rolling it to next month.
take a knitting class – done. I love it and when I finish knitting my ball of yarn I’m going to go back to learn to purl, bind off, and read a pattern.
complete Friday and Saturday in Week in the Life album – I completed Friday but didn’t get to Saturday.
optimize two previous blog posts – not yet. I really just need better photos for these, and it’s hard for me to coordinate. Maybe soon.
Now on to April’s goals! I’m changing the categories a bit because I can. I’m adding a declutter category because that’s something I’ve been thinking a lot about and goes along with my one little word “light” for the year. I’m combining the nagging task and purchase categories because I can’t spend extra money every month and sometimes the purchase IS a nagging task. So here are the goals:
Declutter: closet and makeup purge.
Nagging task or purchase: replace car windshield wipers.
Style & beauty: wash brushes and organize vanity area.
Leisure: knit a little every day.
Memory-keeping: Finish 2014 Week in the Life album.
Blogging: optimize two previous posts.
What do you want to get done this month?
Recently I won a six month membership to the site Big Picture Classes. It’s a fun website for paper crafters and memory keepers with all sorts of classes. You pay by the month so you have full access to all the classes within that time.
I’ve been having fun exploring the site. Two of my favorite classes right off the bat were Inspired Everyday Photography and Pocket Prompts. They are short, but have already inspired me to play around with my photography a bit. For awhile I’ve been neglecting to take photos, and while that can be good sometimes (I am enjoying the moment) I also want to document the stories.
In the class Pocket Prompts, there will be five new prompts each month and I want to challenge myself to complete them. This month’s class was written by Donya Gjerdingen, and here are my photos:
1 / unconventional self-portrait
at my paper crafting station
2 / technology
where I keep my computer and my sewing machine
3 / an unhappy moment
pouting about something
4 / frame your subject
he finally tolerates swinging
5 / patterns in nature
we have wisteria in our backyard and I didn’t even know. happy discovery!