Did I achieve my 2019 goals?

In January, I wrote that I wanted to accomplish these items: 

How did I do?  

 I did mail more cards, I also sent more through the work mailbag and hand-delivered some.  I would like to increase that activity for 2020 because I do like to let people know I appreciate them and it gives me a chance to use my Cricut more.  

I did not make a hardcover book. I worked instead on perfecting my book journal. The whole goal of the hardcover book was to make a Moleskin type book of my book journal.  One of my pals suggested that I make a stamp instead and stamp inside the book that I already liked.  That is what I did.  I LOVE my book stamp.  I can stamp 3 entries on each page.  

I did indeed go to Halifax.  I took a cab to the cemetery, I think I took a photo of all 120 graves.  I also got the book that accompanies the gravesites.  Well, I got the book for Christmas and at this writing, I have just started it.  I think it will be great to go along with my photos.  I only recognized a few of the names there so I am looking forward to learning about some of the others.  What was so sad about the whole thing, other than the fact that 1500 died that night) was that there were so many unmarked graves in Halifax.  Someone's loved one is buried there and no one knows where they are, it was just sad.  I also look forward to what the book has to say about all the unmarked graves.

I have done better with not eating candy. I need to work on junk food and pies and cakes.  That will be my goal for 2020. To consume less sugary foods.  

The last two goals I achieved, at least I had the photos organized until October when we went to Halifax and NYC. I need to start with October and start organizing again from there.  As for the books, my goal is always to read 100.  At this typing, I am up to 118, and I hope to finish one more so that my total ends in the 19, the same as the year (I know I am weird).  

I completed one more lifelong goal that I can't talk to anyone about yet, but I never thought it would happen and I did it!!! I am super excited to tell everyone about it when the time is right to tell everyone.  

2020 Goals

Re-read some Fitzgerald (after all we are entering the Roaring 20's)

Keep the photos organized and up to date

Restarting a former goal of backing up phone photos once a month to the external

Read and review 100 books

Do a book of the month and publish it on FACEBOOK to see if folks join in and read with me.  Also, I have written a 2020 Reading Challenge that I want to publish and see if folks will complete that with me as well.

De-clutter my garage

Start working on my book

2020 will show some changes for our family, our son will graduate high school and who knows what we will do after that.  See you in 2020.  

So Long 2018

2018 was not the kindest year to me.  When I started thinking about what this year meant I was thinking about how much I hated it.  Our lives changed so much and not for the better, but I stopped. NOPE, I was not going to 2018 win.  Here is the deal, there were big changes for us, but there were a lot of good things that happened that were amazing.  My word for 2018 was the Future.  I took that word to mean something totally different when I chose it.  It does still apply though.  Future.  There are so many good things in the future that completely outweigh a crummy year, week or even day.

I went to a class the other day for journaling and the girl teaching it said everyday she writes down one good thing that happened to her that day.  Before I fall asleep at night I think about the day, but this struck me right in the face...BAM!!  Write this stuff down.  That leads me to my word this year...FORWARD.

It is a variation on the future, I know that, but I am looking forward.  Things won't always be as they are now, that is the good thing about life, it is ever-changing.  What seems horrible right now, will one day be in the past.  You can choose to look at it or forget it.  I am choosing to look back on the good.  There were many things in 2018 that were amazing for me.

1.  I saw Hamilton again
2.  I took a week off in June
3.  I went to Canada for a weekend
4.  I saw Chicago, Wicked, Rick Springfield and every play at the Market House theater
5.  I went to Disney World
6.  I bought myself cupcakes for my birthday
7. I had a tumor removed and it was a nothing tumor!!!
8. I finally got to redo the landscaping at the house.  (well I didn't someone did for me)
9.  Pepper joined our family
10. I  saw about 8 classic films on the big screen

2018 you weren't so bad, but I will see ya later.

Things to accomplish in 2019

I started out this post with talk about resolutions, but I am not a resolutions person so I deleted all of that and decided that I am more a goal person.  I do keep goals in my planner.  My planner is not one of those beautiful things. It is simply a planner with an elastic band. I write in my appointments, cool things, house cleaning checklists, glue in ticket stubs and write down the greatest thing of each day.  That is all.

Goals for 2019:
Mail more cards (letters) ---will this be hampered by the .05 increase in the cost of stamps
Learn to make a hardcover book
Go to Halifax
Stop eating candy (haven't had any yet in 2019)
Finish organizing my photos on my external hard drive
Read 100 books and review them

I am trying to stay on target to finish them, but looking for ways to hold myself accountable.  Habit trackers are NOT for me.

I am curious if you do goals/resolutions and how you stay on target to finish them.

Throw Out 50 Things

I recently read a book called "Throw out 50 things" by Gail Blanke.  I liked this book because she told you how to do the purge.  She purges with you and gives you a list of what she depleted from her collection and leaves a space for you to write in what you got out of your home. 

 I have been trying to do this for some time, ever since we had to clean out 40 years of junk from my mother-in-law's house.  I have failed since I had no guide and no one to be competitive with......it just wasn't working for me.  After reading this book, I had a plan to "make it so" (borrowing a line from a great Starfleet Captain).  I started when we got home from vacation.  I proceeded to tackle the project while putting away the items from the trip.  I have been working for 2 days now and I feel I have accomplished a bunch.

I have gotten rid of (either by donating, trashing, gifting to someone in need or recycling):

1. Broken tape dispenser I was never going to fix
2. Broken hole punch
3. Out of date cd roms
4. Magazines
5. Quilts (tiny quilts we have worn out and I won't ever fix)
6. Bath mats (no longer the colors we use)
7. Gooey hair gel
8. Partially used coloring books
9. Toddler sized hats/gloves
10. Unused scarves
11. Picture frames
12. Too young for our kid's games
13. A swivel chair
14. Yucky make-up
15. Broken shells
16. Seen better days Christmas decor
17. Too small or worn clothes
18. See better days toys
19. Out of date coupons
20. Ink cartridges
21. Wire Hangers (this house follows Joan Crawford wire hanger policy)
22. Gently used craft items
23. Cleaned out drawers in the kitchen (I never had a junk drawer but I had junk in each drawer)
24. Books
25. Ink pens
26. Paper pads
27. Some of the 10 rulers I have collected (I kept 2)
28. Address labels featuring my father-in-law's name (for the shred pile)
29. Cross stitch fabric too small to use (why would I keep that???)
30. Mostly burned candles
31. Cardboard boxes that for some reason I feel I need
32. Old papers no longer needed (meant for the shred bin)
33. Broken suitcase that will NOT be good for anything no matter how much I think it will
34. Craft projects attempted but the product is a failure
35. Resumes from John's college days (why have I kept this?) 
36. Old chipped along the edges plates/bowls

That is where I am as of today.  I hope to achieve this 50 things goal by Spring Break 2014 (first week in April) and have added the goal to not bring back the junk.  I still have lots of stuff to go through from my mothers-in-law home and I hope that will be what puts me over the top. I also have a rainbow vacuum in my attic that it is time to get rid of...I have held onto it thinking I could fix it.  I can't!  Never will I just have to face facts?  My other new goal is if you can't fix it right now, you pay someone to do it or get rid of it, RIGHT NOW!!!  Don't bring your junk in my house.

The Third weekend of 2013

I always have a fear of not finishing things. I try hard to achieve the end of the goal. I write down my goals and follow through with completion.  There is something wonderful about adding that check mark on the iPhone or marking a line through the paper notes.  A deep satisfaction.

Proverbs 15:23 - "A man finds joy in giving an apt reply and how good is a timely word!"

One of my goals last year was to send more cards. I did EXCELLENT with that goal last year. I sent more cards than I ever had before even to random folks just so they would know someone cared. I can't tell you how many people would email me back saying that my card arrived when the needed it most.  That God must have knew they needed that encouragement today.  That is how it started...I let God guide me with who needed a card.  Often when I sat down to write out the cards I had NO idea who would be receiving the cards and BAM it just hit me who needed it.

Here is a verse I remember when I am trying to stay on target

2 Timothy 1:7
  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

Self discipline!! I try to use it every day of my life.  If you find it hard  to stay focused, stay on task, to achieve the goal, think about writing down your goals.  Even a simple task of "fold laundry" or "put away computer cords" all the way to "get oil changed" gets completed with a goal sheet.  

If you need help with what type of goal sheet to use, there are some fabulous ones in word, on the internet or if you have an iPhone my new favorite is Wunderlist.  It syncs to my mac and iphone with no issues.  It has a place for lists that include shopping, private, work and  a wish list.    http://www.6wunderkinder.com/wunderlist

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I realized if I am going to keep this goal of sending cards in 2013, I needed to make more...so today that was my focus.  I have missed every CR84FN this year so today was  good time to start back in my routine.  Actually, I did two weeks of challenges even though one had ended.  This is the color palate for the previous week.

I am so in love with the colors.  Raspberry, Lavender and Neutral.  What a perfect combo! I have always wanted a room in the raspberry color....ALWAYS!!

Three of the fours cards used for this scheme have a 1920/1930 vibe.  I have this Graphic 45 paper from the Curtain Calls collection that is simply perfect for someone like I (that is someone going through a 1930 fab).



Picture Perfect....eatures Rudolph Valentino and I am pretty sure, Theda Bara.  If it is not Theda I will be shocked.  It is just hard to tell given the rough drawing.  Both were very famous in their day, Rudy was seen as SEXY and Theda was VAMPY (all be it a bit trashy in my eyes).  This is a simple design using the Graphic 45 tags and Creative Memories paper.  All inks are by Tim Holtz (Distress line). 

The next two use a jazzy font from my MAC (Andes).  I used Jazzing sayings from the Roaring 20's.  Again, I used the Graphic 45 tags, do you see Louis Armstrong?  I also used more of the CM paper and of course the Tim Holtz ink.  The brads are by K&Co from the Mira collection.

The last one is my favorite. I took a die cut from K&Co and inked it using Walnut Stain.  I took the CM paper once again and inked it, then spritzed with water.  I sprayed the butterfly with water and curled the wings and left a hump along the body so it looked three dimensional.  I inked the back of the wings to give some depth.  After she dried I glued her onto the CM paper.  I think poked holes for the antenna and a flying trail.  I used DMC floss to backstitch along the holes.  I absolutely LOVE the way this one looks.

2nd productive weekend of 2013

I tried to be very productive this weekend. I created 16 scrapbook layouts, 8 cards, one owl and 4 painted ladies.  I also squeezed in a fast 7 hour trip to Bowling Green and back through a giant rain storm!!

The way to be more productive with your memory keeping is just to get it done.  Some of the things that I made this weekend were quick and to the point, just to record the memory...while some took literally hours to complete.  Some folks are scared of scrapbooking because they don't know where to start, some are so far behind they lose heart, and some just can't stay focused.  The later is a problem for me....if I don't have a paintbrush in my hand I simply have trouble focusing (could be that ADHD?), I just became disciplined.  I will NOT let myself do something else until I finish. I set small goals at first "today I will complete 2 layouts", but once I get in a groove I set my sights higher just to prove to myself "I COULD do it!!"  Yesterday my goal was 10 layouts, I find it easier to accomplish if I write down the goal.  I wrote down on a sheet of paper, "complete 10 layouts", being competitive with everything I do, I sought out a way to outdo that goal.  Hence the completion of 16.

Focusing on card making is much easier.  Less time is involved in the entire process so I can usually accomplish many more. For this round I only completed 8.  There were quite a few today that took a bit of time to produce.  The Marilyn card with the pocket and 3 tags took a tremendous amount of time.  The Marilyn on the block was completed in only a couple of minutes.

There are many hours involved in the owl. I have put simplified instructions below.

The whole purpose of this was to tell you that you CAN leave your family story.  You CAN make cards to show you are grateful.  You CAN be creative.  You simply need to sit down and do it.  Make a goal in 2013 to make something.  Anything!!!  Maybe you cook, maybe you sewing, maybe you have wanted to try something but never had the guts. NOW is the time!  Make a bigger impact by giving it to someone you care about  There is nothing like getting a handmade gift from someone you love.

Tidbits on making your own owl:  I first had to draw him out onto paper just the way I wanted him to appear.  His body was cut from a leftover piece of mat board.  His wings from grunge board and then decoupaged with paper to match my utility room.  I liked the wings so much I pulled out the K&Co Urban Rhapsody paper pack (the paper I used for the utility room), and cover the owl body.  I made a stomach patch from the paper and covered that in Paisley Park plastic thingys.  Once the wings were dry I dotted Tim Holtz Distress Crackle paint on the front and back of wings.  The eyes were made by cutting circle of leftover fabric and burning the edges with a candle.  Each eye has two different sized circles that I squished up and glued.  The feet and beak are made from leftover Technique Tuesday tiles. Everything was distressed with Tim Holtz distress products.

both layouts feature journaling on the back

You are the best

I promise to you that I am doing good at my goal to send more cards so that people know that I care or am grateful for the things that I have been given or for things that have been done for me.

Today's card is another extension of that....we don't often tell people when they do a good job, but we are all over  them when they screw up.  I tried to do this when I was working at Olivet...praise people for a job well done.  I am continuing this tradition now.  Here is a card that I made for someone that I know has very low self esteem, I only hope this makes them feel a little better about themselves.

Sometimes a little encouragement can go a long way. I know in my case I absolutely blossom when someone says "job well done"....but we all know you don't here that much.

Here is my card, I hope that it inspires you to be kind to someone today.   

I am entering this card in the CR84FN challenge...if you scrapbook/make cards and don't know what that is...check it out.  It is a great starter/springboard that can lead you to get inspired or to try something that you might not have tried without their prompting.  If you don't want to play and just want to browse, just clip on some of the thumbnails.  There are some extremely talented ladies out in this world.  I thank them for sharing their talent.