Category: personal

  • may goals

    may goals

    So after a very busy April I wanted to take a step back this month in the goals area. There are only six of them, and none are too intense. I’m really excited about laying out my quilt top because I’ll get to see what the finished product will look like (sort of). Then I want to prepare it for sewing.

    CEU’s stands for continuing education units, and I need them to keep up my nursing license, my oncology certification, and for annual review at work. I am behind on them so this needs to get done regardless, but I thought making it a monthly goal would give me more satisfaction when I do them.

    I am curious about Google calendar. Although I do carry a moleskine around for random notes, I do almost all of my list-making and planning digitally, and it works best for me. For a few months this year I tried out an Erin Condren planner and I intend to do a full review of it, but in the end it was bulkier than I needed. I want to see if I can make Google calendar work for me.

    The yoga thing is an experiment. I know I love yoga, and I have the resources to do it at home (even though I prefer in studio). I have been trying to brainstorm a way I can incorporate some kind of exercise into my life and the best idea I can come up with right now is to see if I can do a yoga session in the morning before work. Right now I use that alone time (at 5 a.m.) to do my Bible study so I am thinking that I might alternate days and use yoga time to pray. We’ll see.

    Speaking of prayer, now that Meredith is a little older I want to start praying with her daily before bed. I think this will also be good for David and me as a couple to pray together.

    And finally, meal planning, my old nemesis. People are so kind to give me all kinds of advice about how to make planning, preparing, and cooking dinner easier for me, but when it comes down to it the main problem is just getting motivated to make a plan. I started this week with our easiest standby meals, but I’d like to branch out a little.

    Here we go May!

  • april goals update

    goals update

    Cut all cream triangles for quilt. This is done! I’m super excited to move on to the next step!

    Have sewing machine repaired. It’s not repaired yet, but it is in the shop. I should know by next Tuesday if parts or further repair (other than routine cleaning) is needed.

    Purge & organize all of our clothes. This was one of the main things I tackled on my vacation. I even donated the clothes we don’t want instead of leaving them boxed or bagged up for months, and passed along Meredith’s outgrown clothes to my niece. Feels good.

    Get caught up on Project Life. I got caught up, but now I’m on the verge of being behind again, ha. If I can get a spread done this coming weekend I’ll be right on schedule though. :)

    One craft or project just for fun. Yes! I didn’t think I was going to finish, but then Meredith took a 4-hour nap (!!) last weekend and I completed and hung my woven wall hanging that I started on vacation. As soon as I get some photos in good lighting I will share it for sure.

    Complete one area of the house. Yup, I called the eating nook done.

    Give proofs of love. I could have done more, but I did try to give David more random cards and notes of affirmation, along with being more intentionally affectionate. I don’t know if he noticed, but we did have a good month together so I’m happy. :)

    It was an incredibly productive month and although I’m a little bit tired I am also still inspired! May goals coming tomorrow.

  • currently

    playground

    Playground fun over the weekend.

    ***

    Time // 6:47 p.m.

    Place // home at my desk

    Eating // cold pizza and strawberries

    Drinking // cold water

    Watching // nothing now but I did see Olympus Has Fallen over the weekend and it was intense but good.

    Reading // Matched by Ally Condie. I just needed something quick and light.

    Wanting // a new pair of earrings because I recently lost one of my only pair. I am always losing one earring.

    Thinking // about how I hardly ever use Instagram anymore, and how I need to remedy that.

    Creating // trying to complete my woven wall hanging before month’s end.

    Hoping // Meredith’s epic struggle with teething will end soon. She’s soooo slow to teethe you guys.

    Needing // to get my sewing machine repaired quickly if I’m going to get anything done on my quilt at any point. Also need to maintain motivation for quilt and relearn how to sew.

    Anticipating // I don’t know…bedtime? The cookies I’m planning to make this weekend? I’m kind of tired right now.

    ***

    It’s Monday, but it’s winding down. We didn’t have the greatest weekend, but it wasn’t horrible either. Just like…a lot of little annoying things happened and Meredith was fussy and needy the whole time and we were just “off” as a couple. But we made a pact last night to let it go and make this a fresh week and so far it’s going well.

    Something hard happened at work today. I made a mistake, and it wasn’t really a big deal and certainly won’t cause any harm, but it was involving a patient and a medication and I’m still really mad at myself, embarrassed, and ashamed because it shouldn’t have happened. I could have easily just kept quiet but the right thing to do was to report it. I was so tempted to take the easy way out. No one would have known. I seriously considered it. But I didn’t do the easy thing. I submitted a report, and it didn’t feel good, but it’s done and now I can be a little less ashamed of myself. I am sure I will be hearing about it in the future but for now I’m doing my best to let it go.

    I wish I could have a mentor in the area of feeding my family. Someone who is really good at budgeting, menu planning, and cooking (all this as a working mom) who will come take me under her wing and show me her ways until I am strong enough to fly free on my own. In return I will mentor her in…something. I don’t know what. But something! In the meantime I think I just need to buy this book and read it over and over.

    Monday night thoughts. There you have ’em.

  • around here // staycation

    So as much as I hate the word “staycation,” that is exactly what I had last week. Or I guess you could call it my own personal spring break. And it was awesome! I am not even upset about being back to the grind this week because I feel so accomplished and refreshed (although it’s as if Meredith knew I had to go back to work and chose to sleep horribly last night – but that’s what coffee is for). I took a week off for the specific purpose of being productive on crafts & personal projects, and that is exactly what I did.

    wildlife

    meredith closet

    at the zoo

    feeding the giraffe

    clothes

    desk

    loom

    posy

    toes

    drivers

    With my time off, I managed to:

    >Visit a wildlife refuge with the family

    >Deal with a flea situation, which meant baths & medicine for the dogs as well as lots of cleaning & spraying of the house

    >Attend church life group

    >Have several family get-togethers

    >Organize Meredith’s room and closet, switching out clothes that no longer fit her for new hand-me-downs

    >Spend a full day at the zoo

    >Purge my own closet of clothes I don’t wear or that don’t fit

    >Hang the “home sweet home” cross stitch that I already showed you

    >Go to the dentist

    >Browse a local antique store

    >Catch up on my podcast listening

    >Build a “loom” and start on a weaving project

    >Stop by to see my brother’s new house and to celebrate his birthday

    >Take Meredith to visit David at work

    >Watch many episodes of 30 Rock

    >Totally catch up on Project Life

    >Get some upcoming blog posts drafted

    >Go on a date to see a play with David

    >Take a few really good showers

    >Visit the new Farmer’s Market

    >Weed and rake the entire yard

    >Go on lots of walks

    Everyone should take a week off like this each year to recharge. I’ll definitely be repeating it in the future when I feel overwhelmed. In the meantime, I’m going to take a day once a month for myself, and start to plan a long weekend getaway just for our little family, probably to a nearby small town. It’s always good to have things like that to look forward to. :)

    Happy Monday!

  • cross stitch #2 : home sweet home

    home sweet home

    finally got these framed so I can share! I finished this project months and months ago. It’s from Cross Stitcher magazine and was meant to be pillows but I wanted to frame it because I am not advanced enough to make pillows nor do I really want needlepoint pillows.

    Did you know that it is not very easy to find square frames, especially 12×12 ones? I had to order these from Amazon and then get custom mats cut. It is hard to tell from this photo (and I apologize for the glare, it was impossible to avoid) but the frames are a dark mocha, not black. I am very happy with them and how the modern clean lines contrast with the traditional sampler form.

    This is our breakfast nook, and the table here is roughly the same color as the frames. I am working on “finishing” this area and hopefully I’ll be able to provide photos of it soon. In this space we used to have some large bamboo plates hung and I was so ready for a change. The plates were fine for awhile, but this adds much more life.

    A closer look at the stitching:

    home sweet home cross stitch

    home sweet home cross stitch

    I also did a better job of getting rid of/hiding the wrinkles in the fabric this time around. Overall I am super happy with this project!