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Best of 2022 and Looking Ahead

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There’s a Top Nine app that’s popular on Instagram. The app will identify the nine most “liked” photos on your feed for the year. I ran it, but many that were chosen were not my favorites. Cathy Zielske created a grid for anyone who wanted to create their own, so I used her grid to identify my favorite cards of the year. No surprise to me that many of them involve hot foil plates or die cutting!

Top9_2022

Yesterday, I set up my book journal for 2023, and looked over the stats from 2022. I met the goal I set at Goodreads plus 2.

YearInBooks

It was an interesting mix of reading. Almost 3/4 of them were written by female authors. The 62 books were divided almost evenly between fiction and non-fiction, and my favorite ten books for the year divided evenly between fiction and nonfiction as well. Fifty-three of them were print books; the rest were evenly divided between audible and Kindle versions.  I owned about half of the books I read, and the others were evenly divided between books borrowed from my daughter and books borrowed from the library. What surprised me the most was the amount of fiction I read. In 2021, I read almost twice as much non-fiction as fiction. And most of the fiction this year was contemporary or speculative fiction. 

So here are my ten favorite books from 2022. They are ones I’ve thought about long after I finished reading them and/or just thoroughly enjoyed. 

AtomicHabits Bewilderment Duchess Horse Lessons

Cartographers2 Leave2 PreciousDays Solito2 Tomorrow2

I’ve downsized my reading goal for 2023 to 52–one a week. I may do better than that, but one thing I learned this year is that it’s hard to meet a goal that requires more than four books a month when we’re traveling. And traveling is something we hope to continue to do this year. 

I gave serious thought to not choosing a One Little Word this year–something I’ve done annually since 2011. But in the end, I’m taking a cue from Mary-Lou of Patio Postcards who chose her words quarterly last year. The last several years, choosing One Little Word helped me focus my energies and intentions for the first part of the year, but by summer I was rarely paying any attention at all to it. In November last year I revived my word (Balance) so I ended the year a bit more focused than I had been since August. Once again, traveling always throws me off!

For the first quarter, I’ve chosen Gratitude. I spent the month of November working through photography prompts for Picture Plenty, and started a gratitude journal again. I’d like to establish a habit of paying attention to the small blessings of each day and writing them down. Last year, I finally established a routine of doing spiritual reading/prayer each morning, and I’d like to have an evening routine for recording gratitude.

I’m also setting intentions for each month instead of for the year. For months when we’ll be traveling, I can set some limited goals. And honestly, there are projects I’ve been trying to complete for several years, and I keep pushing them off to the side. If I work on them month by month perhaps they’ll get completed. Under each of four categories—Crafting, Reading, Photography, and Home, I’ve listed one-four things I’d like to accomplish in January. (I’m not ignoring Wellness, but our gym routine and healthy eating patterns are pretty well established so I don’t think I need any particular focus there.) The January plan may be too ambitious, but by evaluating my intentions monthly, I’m hoping all my projects will stay on my radar and get completed by the end of the year!

 

 

 

One Little Word for 2021

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This is the 11th year I’ve chosen a word to guide my intentions for the year. Most of them have served me well–some better than others. This year nothing came quickly to mind, but before I went hunting for a word (which I’ve needed to do occasionally in the past), EXPLORE popped out at me, and I knew immediately it was the word for me this year.

Explore

Exploration is curiosity put into action. Don Walsh

This quote pretty well defines what I’m hoping for by choosing this word. Let’s hope by the end of 2021, the first definition in the dictionary also holds true:

1. travel in or through (an unfamiliar country or area) to learn about or familiarize oneself with it.

There are so many things (and places) I want to explore. Some of the things I want to explore from home are prayer practices, new card making techniques, journal writing, sketching and sketchbook design, photography (more intentional, using my Canon and Sony cameras as well as my iPhone), and writing a Rule of Life. The books I chose for the photograph above cover some of those topics. Missing from the pile is The Adventures of Seeing which I loaned to a church friend over a year ago. I’ve have sent an email to see if I can retrieve it to use for a potential photography project. Heart Talk and Life’s Companion are for exploring more intentional and meaningful journaling, and Note to Self is about writing a Rule of Life. I’ve also found information about that on Tsh Oxenreider’s site. An Illustrated Life has been on my shelf (and perused) for several years. That and Liz Steel’s new class “Sketchbook Design” will help me explore sketching again. The book on the bottom is a new journal I’ve invested in that provides a two-page spread for organizing your day, writing your morning and evening gratitudes and summarizing the day. At the end of each week, there’s a reflection page that includes a habit tracker. I’ve been looking for several years for the “perfect” journal. This may not be it, but it’s the closest I’ve found. The drawback is that it’s a three month journal and costs more than most year-long ones. If it works, it will be worth it to me. By the end of March I should have a good idea. 

My biggest take-away from last year’s OLW, COMMIT, was that setting monthly intentions from a broader list worked much better for me. Eventually I got to more of the items on my lists than I had in the past, Each month will include a reading goal, an organizational/purging goal, and a group of habits to track. For January, it’s 1) establish a morning routine of reading (firmly in place,) journaling, and meditation/prayer; 2) complete four books including one from The Unread Shelf Project–a project from 2020 that I’m continuing; 3) begin a weekly sketchbook page reflecting joys and gratitude, and 4) begin to work my way through my stamp/die collection, actually using them before deciding which ones to keep and which ones to give away or donate. I’m guessing that February’s goals will look much the same with different books, perhaps a change in habits to track, and once the sketchbook class has ended, a new creative goal. I’m feeling pretty flexible and willing to change things up until they feel right. 

So here’s to 2021. I’m guessing the next few months will be difficult ones. Observing safety routines will be more important than ever as others get frustrated and give up on the isolation requirements. A vaccine for folks my age may be available by March, and I hope that’s not an overly optimistic prediction. And I’m hoping my OLW project will help keep me entertained and busy here at home!

Good-bye July, Hello August

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It’s time for the One Little Word recap for July. July was the first month I really didn’t track my progress. I’ll chalk it up to being away the first week of July so my routines didn’t get established. The truth is, however, that July was the month last year that I more or less gave up on my OLW and just let it go. We’re halfway through the year and it’s been a tough one in so many ways, but I’m still COMMITED to working on the projects I set out for myself in January. Not all of them are calling to me right now, but there are enough to keep me going. Here’s July in pictures:

July2020Collage

There are a couple of photos of grandchildren sent to me—Caleb on his new 8-speed bicycle (#19). His dad says he can’t keep up with him any more; he’s way too fast! The three little girls on a bench after they’d been berry picking (#24), and Hannah in her “hiding” place for hide-and-seek (#29). Sarah says Caleb is such a good big brother, he pretends that he can’t see her for awhile. On the 6th, you can see the rocks Caleb, Hannah, and I painted with alcohol inks. They came out great and it wasn’t anywhere as near messy as I expected it to be. On the 21st, Skylar and Ella came to bake sugar cookies. That was a first for me in the summer, but they disappeared as quickly as they do in December. The photo on the 26th shows our patio without the almost “dead” hedge that has surrounded it since we moved in 35 years ago. The 27th shows the new railing that was installed that day. Our patio sits at the top of a hill, and there needs to be some protection against folks stumbling or running off it and tumbling down the hill. I wasn’t sure what I’d think of it, but I really love it. We have a much better view, and the patio actually seems bigger since some of the furniture can be placed right against the railing. I’ll have more photos later. There are photos from our walks and bike rides, and the 31st shows some of the cards and images I colored over 115 days.

I did finish the #100DayProject and continued coloring every day until the 30th in order to finish the second of the 30 Day Coloring Challenges that ended on July 3oth. Even more amazing to me than the completing the project was that almost all the projects were posted on Instagram—something I rarely did, but expect to continue to do on a less frequent basis. 

I made NO progress on purging the photos in my Photo Library, so that’s high on the list for August. Also on the list is to get back on track with daily walking which fell by the wayside with the travel. By mid-June we’d walked a minimum of 2 miles every day for 57 days. Then we left for Wisconsin, and although we walked while we were there we definitely got out of the daily habit, and I’ve found it hard to get back to it. The goal for August is 5 days a week—6 would be better! On the crafting side, my goal this month is to use new stamps and dies that have piled up as I worked on coloring projects. I’m off to a good start already finishing two cards this week with unused (though one was hardly new) stamps and dies. 

Reading was not a problem. I read the five books I set out to read, and read two longer books to Caleb over Zoom. I counted them because I loved both novels, as did Caleb. Tomorrow we start Harriet the Spy. It’s his request, and I hope I like it more this time than I did the last time I tried to read it. Unlike June, I enjoyed all of the books I read in July.

Lila Afterlife Authenticity Tenderland
Liturgy Ivan Bob

The Authenticity Project was just for fun. It and Liturgy of the Ordinary were part of The Unread Shelf Project. I also went through those shelves with a new question to ask: If I saw this book in a bookstore, would I purchase it? The answer for 12 of them was “no,” and they’re in a bag to donate to the library once they begin to accept donations. I’m guessing that won’t happen until the pandemic is truly over. Fortunately, you can now pick up books curbside by appointment, and just this week you may enter the library after signing a document and getting your temperature taken. 

So now it’s August, and today is Sarah’s 40th birthday. I wonder if she’s as surprised by that fact as I am. Her congregation held a birthday car parade yesterday afternoon through the church parking lot. (FYI: Sarah was wearing a mask for the parade, but took it off for this photo.) Someone made a huge sign, and it was delivered to their front yard this morning. They had a beautiful stained glass window hanging made for her, and brought a cake over as well. When we had our FaceTime call, the house had been decorated by Dad and the kids, so it was as festive an occasion as possible during the pandemic.

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Her birthday card this year featured hedgehogs (a favorite of hers) but I also thought the kids would like it as well. These are about as cute as you can find. I love them rushing up the hill with gifts.

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It’s easier to see the “grass” in this photo. I can’t remember the last time I pulled out my fringe scissors, but I’m glad they’ve survived the multiple purges since I bought them years ago.

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One Little Word: A Very Late Update for June

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Our trip to Racine to see Sarah, Adam, Caleb, and Hannah spanned two weeks from the end of June to the beginning of July. It threw me off totally in terms of evaluating my OLW intentions and setting some new ones for July. 

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I did keep up with a photo every day, although I took some liberty with this collage, inserting the three little girls’ “last day of home school” photos over the course of three days. Betsy had them get dressed up as if it were the last day of school and they were happy to oblige. Had school been in session it would have ended for the elementary students on the 17th. Skylar “finished” third grade; Ella, kindergarten, and Maddy is still in preschool. There’s no word here, yet, of whether schools will open in September and, if they do, what they might look like. Then, of course, parents have to make a decision whether or not they feel the options available are safe. I don’t envy any parents that decision. Sarah and Adam are already wrestling with it. Caleb’s Montessori school is set to reopen for five days a week. Wisconsin, however, continues to see a surge in Covid-19 cases, and there is a general unwillingness of folks to wear masks. We didn’t enter any stores while we were away, but Sarah and Adam have taken to ordering almost everything online to be delivered or picked up curbside. Many other photos are from our hikes, and some of the fun we had in Racine. You can see Caleb taking one of his Tae Kwan Do classes via Zoom on the 26th. Dad is helping out as he practices his kicks. I documented our daily lunch at home on the 12th. If the weather permits, we eat on the patio and play a game of cribbage while we eat.

I also kept up with the #100DayProject, doing two coloring pieces a day when I missed a day due to travel. 

There was lots of reading time in June, both on the patio, in the morning, and in Racine. I read seven books:

41D1ZZfZUTL._SX327_BO1 204 203 200_ Bookshop Gilead2 Home
I'm Still Here Pull SuchAFunAge

(There was an issue with Typepad formatting these books this time. It’s never been a problem before. I couldn’t get to left-justified margins without these sentences. Who knows?)

I really enjoyed both Marilynne Robinson books. I’d read Gilead years ago, but was glad to have reread it. It’s the first of three linked books about two ministers and their families during the 1950’s in Gilead, Iowa. Not a lot happens, but both books are beautifully written and the NYTimes described Gilead as having a “spiritual force that’s rare in contemporary fiction,” and indeed, I wished at the end that I had underlined major portions of it. Sarah was reading I’m Still Here . . . while we were there, and I picked it up as soon as she finished it. I’ve since ordered my own copy, and our church is sponsoring an online book group about it that starts Sunday evening. The Pull of the Moon was my book for The Unread Shelf. It was a quick read, but not particularly satisfying. I wasn’t a huge fan of The Bookshop, our couples’ book group choice, but most of our group seemed to like it a lot. Such a Fun Age wasn’t as engaging as I expected it to be. Tracy always says that movies and books that get rave reviews rarely live up to the expectation. In this case, that was true. I also loved Rebecca Solnit’s memoir. Memoir is one of my favorite genres, and this one has a very unique take on the genre, but one I really enjoyed. Solnit is a historian and activist who writes extensively on feminine issues and the environment. She’s had a fascinating history.

I’m not planning any big changes for July. The #100DayProject ended a few days ago, but I had already started my second 30 Day Coloring Challenge hosted by Kathy Racoosin so I’ll finish that up. There’s the usual stack of books, many more photos to purge, and some online classes I’d like to take.

Mostly, I’m trying to stay as positive as I can as the virus spirals out of control without any serious leadership from the federal government. Fortunately, our county has remained pretty stable, and in NY everyone is required to wear a mask before entering any indoor establishment. I’ve read of instances where folks have refused, but in the few places I’ve been I’ve not seen anyone without a mask. We returned from Wisconsin just a week before rates there went up enough that anyone coming into NY from Wisconsin must quarantine for two weeks. The list of states for which that is true is updated almost daily. Now people coming to NY on public transportation are met by officials and must complete a written document so that contact tracing can take place if necessary. I hope it helps contain the virus, which is beginning to rise statewide again. There doesn’t seem to be any end in sight, and I find it incredible that there are still people who believe it’s a hoax, and won’t take it seriously. 

Ah, well, here’s to the health and safety of all of us during the rest of the summer. I’m so grateful to be secure, safe, and have access to beautiful outdoor spaces during this lovely time of year. May the same be true for you.

 

 

One Little Word: May Recap

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Stay-at-home restrictions continued so taking on the #100DayProject was a good decision. I’ve enjoyed the excuse to pull out one of my coloring materials to use every day. I have an unusual stockpile of cards and an envelope of colored images for new cards, and I’ve sent a lot of cards as well.

I kept up with a photo-a-day. As you can see below, the majority of the photos were of flowers and the parks. No wonder! Winter kept a grip on us for the beginning of May, so green trees (not until after my birthday mid-month) and flowers were a very welcome sight. There are a couple of photos of the many birds that keep us entertained outside our kitchen window. We’re always glad to see the rose-breasted grosbeaks who only stay for a couple of weeks. Fortunately, the beautiful Baltimore Orioles stay most of the summer. We’ve seen a few hummingbirds, and have regular visits from two kinds of woodpeckers. The yellow finches, catbirds, and nuthatches also enjoy our feeders.

MayPhotoCollage

I also set a goal to walk every day which we did, sometimes in the snow, and once on a 90° day. The extremes were rather amazing. According to our Runkeeper app, we totaled a little over 74 miles for the month.

I read five books, none of which I rated with five stars although I enjoyed most of them. I particularly liked Rebecca Solnit’s Whose Story Is It? –a group of thoughtful essays about feminism, discrimination, and power, and Eric Larson’s lengthy, but well-written, intimate portrait of Winston Churchill during his first year as prime minister during WWII.

  Longings Knife Splendid

WhoseStory Camino

I intended to continue purging photos from my computer, but that fell by the wayside, so I’m taking that up in June with more concrete goals. I didn’t get back to my Copic Jumpstart class either, and know that will have to wait until the #100DayProject is complete.

As if the pandemic wasn’t enough, the month ended in tragedy and chaos—another Black life taken at the hands of the police resulting in peaceful protests that turned violent in over 140 cities, including Rochester. Our federal leadership does more to incite violence than calm—no sign of empathy or compassion. I fear for our future.

My June goals are much the same. I’ll continue with the #100DayProject, I have six books I want to read, and my study group is beginning our third project which would be book #7 for the month. I’m planning to set aside three times each day to tackle the reading. I want to purge another 5,000 photos (11,000 were purged by the end of April), and Tracy wants to reach 50 days of continuous walking. We’re planning a trip to Wisconsin at the end of the month which always alters our daily rhythms, so I hope to be particularly productive the first few weeks of the month.

 

April OLW Recap

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COMMIT has remained a good word for these unusual times, although the goals for April evolved as the month progressed. This, I’m sure, will be the new normal for the summer ahead. All our plans for travel and special events have now been cancelled through the end of August. I’m still holding out hope for a trip to Wisconsin before summer ends, but we’ll have to wait and see what things are like, not only here but in all the states between here and there. If things were normal, we’d be there now to celebrate Mother’s Day and my birthday. Thank goodness for FaceTime and Zoom. 

Like the pandemic, winter has still not lessened its grip on western New York. Trees have still not leafed out, but the birds are returning. In the last two weeks, we’ve had rose-breasted grosbeaks, Baltimore Orioles, many yellow finches, and a red-winged blackbird and a cowbird at our feeders. The last two are new are new to our yard. 

I finished Sandie’s 30 Day Photo Challenge, and managed a photo-a-day–again all on my iPhone.

April2020

In the middle, you’ll see a couple photos of grandchildren I did not take, but were sent to me by my kids. Twelve of the photos were from our almost-daily walks and hikes. We tallied over 57 miles during April, 24 of them on the Lehigh Valley Trail. There are also three photos of food. I’ve really enjoy cooking, and there could have been many more photos. I’m trying 2-3 new recipes each week, and doing some baking which is really unusual. The walking seems to be offsetting the increased calories!

So back to goals, on the 7th of April I committed to doing a 100 Day Project–daily coloring in any medium which coincided with Kathy Racoosen’s 30 Day Coloring Challenge. It’s a good project, challenging me to try some new techniques as well as get out a variety of coloring mediums. Amazingly enough, I’ve managed to post on Instagram regularly as well. I also signed up for an Online Card Class which I’ve enjoyed. I completed several projects, and have several more I want to tackle.

Another new goal emerged a week or two later when I received notice that my iCloud storage was about full. After offloading about 90% of my documents to an external hard drive, I started to tackle the incredible numbers of photos in my Photos app that go back to 2006. I’m about halfway through (now working on 2013) and have purged over 11,000 photos. It’s been a good trip through memory lane and a reminder to henceforth delete duplicates and blurry photos as you go. (As well as the multiple photos I take solely for my blog.)

I read seven books:

ThingsseenLent Light of the world Writerslovers

Wonder Dearlife Gallagher

I particularly enjoyed Writers and Lovers, the only romantic novel on the list. I found some of Alice Munro’s short stories challenging, but in the end understand why she has received so many accolades. Although I found the first of Nora Gallagher’s book slow-going in the beginning, by the end I had marked so many pages, I ordered her second memoir and enjoyed it as well. Five of those are books for my Unread Shelf Project. April’s goal was to read five books and complete a BINGO sheet. Done! (See the photo for Day 17; one of the books was finished late in March which met the requirements for the BINGO game.) Now I’m engrossed in two long, but interesting books, so I’m thinking I won’t finish seven books in May. 

So my goals for May: keep working on the 100DayProject, and begin to assemble cards with all the coloring I’ve done so far; participate in Spring Card Camp 2 which started Wednesday; read another book from the unread shelves (reorganized by genre during April); complete the purging of photos in the Photos app, and move on to one or more projects I keep pushing ahead month after month. We’ll see which ones win the battle! I’m also determined to walk every day in May. This weekend will be the biggest test as snow is predicted Saturday night. Mother’s Day (celebrated here on Sunday) is going to be really cold!

OLW: March Recap and April Intentions

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I continue to be grateful that I chose to set intentions month by month this year since March certainly was not the month we expected. By the time we returned from a wonderful week with Sarah and her family, it was clear that traveling to Hawaii and California were out of the question. Fortunately we took care of most of our cancellations before the wait time on phones reached an hour or more. In just a week we were in self-isolation where we have stayed except for a daily walk and a weekly trip to the grocery store. 

Once I realized I was going to be home WAY more than normal, I took a second look at my intentions for my OLW, COMMIT, for March. After about a week of having difficulty staying focused, I made a list of “To Do Items for Imposed Seclusion.” Being a list maker at heart, I immediately felt better and began to be more productive. I didn’t put organizing, cleaning, or purging on the list, but I’ve been doing little bits and pieces of that as well.

First on the list were two items that have been on my mental to-do list for months, even a year or two. About two years ago, I realized that I could be cutting my stamped images with my Cameo. I watched a few videos, but frankly I’m intimidated by technology I don’t really understand. In August, Sarah gave me a tutorial, but I never felt independent. Finally, with another tutorial from Sarah at the beginning of the month, I have mastered the art of cutting out my stamped images. I’m still working out some details, but here’s a look at two bunnies I die cut with the Cameo and then watercolored.

CameoRabbits

The second task has been copied over and over and over on my weekly lists. At long last, I have all our photos from our road trip in September edited and up on SmugMug. If you’re interested, you can find them here. There are a lot of photos, but the format on SmugMug allows you to look at them very quickly. 

I kept up with my watercolor practice, watched a series of videos on layering stamps (and started practicing with those), and kept up with the Photo-a-Day project.

MarchPhotoADay

A note on the photo of Hannah on the top row with a Band-aid on her forehead. She woke up in the middle of the night and told Sarah her head hurt. Sarah asked if a Band-aid would help, and she thought it would. She wore it for several days! I must say the hardest thing about this isolation is not being able to see my grandchildren. We stay away from everyone now, although we do, gratefully, get to video chat with everyone. It’s clear there will be no personal photos of grandchildren in April, but hopefully I’ll get a few from their parents. Although there was snow in March (see the snow on the daffodils on the 23rd), there quickly were signs of spring in the park, and the daffodils on the kitchen table are from our back yard, as is the hellebore. I found the hanging basket of pansies at the grocery store that are now outside our kitchen window. Many of the photos are from our daily walks.

Last, I kept up with The Unread Shelf Project, finishing Ann Patchett’s debut novel, The Patron Saint of Liars. It had been on my shelf for years, a paperback copy that I purchased at a used book store somewhere. I also finished four other books: Apeirogon, Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I’m Learning to Say, The Hope of Glory, and Dear Edward. I enjoyed all of them, but was especially fascinated with Apeirogon by Colum McCann. It’s the most inventive novel I’ve ever read, and a tragic commentary on a true story of two fathers, one Israeli and one Palestinian, whose daughters were killed as a result of the ongoing conflict. The two men now travel around the world telling their stories, hoping to inspire an end to the bitter conflict. 

 

PatronSaint Apeirogon TellMe
HopeOfGlory DearEdward

So April. It’s going to be a lot of the same: daily walks (fortunately the parks and trails here are still open and people have been great about keeping appropriate distance from one another), lots of reading (I have a list of six–two new and four on the unread shelf), continuing to play with watercolor (I have a new set of watercolor markers I’m anxious to try), and working on the second online course Tracy gave me for Christmas—Copic Jumpstart with Sandy Allnock. So it looks like lots of coloring is in store. The biggie on the list is getting started on making a photo book. Some of you know well, I’ve been promising to do this for years! Like the Cameo, for some reason I’ve always been intimidated by making a serious photo book. I figure now is the time. I’m also going to keep up the photography habit, including in my daily search items from Sandie’s 30 Day Photo Challenge, and Kim Manley Ort’s 30 Days of Perception.

I hope you are well, and keeping busy. It’s easy to get discouraged during this unprecedented time. Every day I lift up my gratitude to all those in the front lines of this pandemic, and all the workers providing essential needs. And my prayers for all those who have lost their livelihood, are ill, frightened, overwhelmed, lonely, and in need of comfort. I’m blessed to be where I am, and who I am with right now. And I certainly don’t take it for granted. 

Five in Five & the OLW March Editions

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Today’s the fifth of March, and for once, I am ready with my Five in Five photos for Sandie’s meme. The task is to take as many photos as you can (or want) in five minutes and post just five of them. Knowing I needed to publish my intentions for March, I thought I’d photograph some of what I’ve been working on while we’re visiting Sarah. My creative intention this month is to spend some time exploring watercolors. One way I’m doing it, is with this book:

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I’ve purchased other books on watercolors, but this is the best one, by far! I’ve read and reread some of the introductory pages, and just started some of the exercises. Here’s one of the first:

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The author recommends buying a set of student grade watercolors, but I’ve owned some Daniel Smith, professional grade watercolors for a long time. The next exercise requires some mixing, and it will probably take me some time to figure out the “recipes” for the specific colors we’re going to need for later lessons. The smaller palette in this photo was a recent purchase the bottom six wells were prefilled with colors I didn’t own, and I filled the top three with new colors I’d recently bought.

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I discovered this lovely brush and pen holder on a calligraphy blog I follow, and it’s perfect for traveling.

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After playing around yesterday, and throwing out quite a few experiments that didn’t pan out, I had an urge to paint something that could eventually become a card. This lovely hydrangea by Gina K fit the bill.

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I”m also watching some Altenew videos in watercolor classes I’ve subscribed to and never finished. So there’s the five in five and the major intention for March.

In addition, I’ll be trying to finish one book from my unread shelves. I’m in the midst of Lenten devotional reading (Lent in Plain Sight: A Devotion Through Ten Objects and The Hope of Glory: Reflections on the Last Words of Jesus from the Cross) as well as reading two library books, so I’ll be grateful to get just one book off the unread shelf. And because I enjoyed the photo-a-day project last month, I’m planning to continue that as well. 

OLW: Commit-February Recap

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I’m really enjoying setting intentions on a monthly basis. For February, I started out with four, and added a fifth shortly after the month began.

  1. Complete the Simplified Photos class: I watched all the videos. Frankly, I knew 85-90% of the material presented. I did learn about a new iPhone app called Color Story. No surprise to me, I already had it on my phone and had never used it. I’ll be giving it a try, but most of the time I upload the photos to my computer and edit them in Lightroom and/or Photoshop Elements.

        2. Take a photo-a-day. Accomplished! Here are 29 of them; there were several more.

FebruaryPhotoaDay

It’s a good mix of wintery photos, home activities, a couple family events, and quite a few wildlife photos which surprises me some. 

  1. Complete the Colored Pencil: Jumpstart class. Also done; I learned a lot in this class and will be applying what I learned over many months. I started a sketchbook for practice images some of which I’ll probably use for cards.
  1. Read one book for the Unread Shelf Project. I finished five books in February and three of them were from my unread shelves: Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table, A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith, and Hashtag Authentic: Be Your Best Creative Self via Your Instagram Online Presence.

Tender          Hashtag      Pigrimage

I enjoyed all of them, but I particularly liked Timothy Eagan’s A Pilgrimage to Eternity which includes among many other things, a wonderful history of Christianity and Europe—much of which I didn’t know well. I also got a lot out of Hashtag Authentic. I don’t post much on Instagram, but much of the information in the book was a wonderful refresher about photographing the mundane and the everyday.

In addition to the unread shelf books, I read two new books I borrowed from the library Hill Women: Finding Family and a Way Forward in the Appalachian Mountains, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things: A Story of Unlearning and Relearning God. After reading the last book, I enrolled in Sarah Bessey’s email subscription program. I’m already using her Forty Simple Practice for Lent and am enjoying the emails she sends with links to many fascinating and inspiring articles and videos.

HillWomen    Miracles

  1. After reading about Honoré’s LOAD (A scrapbook Layout A Day) project, I decided to do a card-a-day. By the end of the month I had completed 29 cards—most of which have been mailed or are ready to be mail in the next month. I didn’t made a new card every day, but some days I made several. You can see some of them here, here, and here. And more will be posted once the recipients have them in their hands.

All in all, it was a great month for the the OLW commitments. March will be much lighter in intentions as we are only at home for 12 days, and most days are pretty packed with appointments, volunteering, meetings, and of course, some social engagements. 

February – COMMIT

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It’s the first, and I have my intentions set for this month. I was already a couple of days ago, but I made an addition after reading Honoré’s post this morning. Every year Honoré participates in LOAD – creating a scrapbook layout every day for the month. I’ve given up scrapbooking, but I decided creating a card every day would be a great addition to my intentions. I need quite a few Valentines by the 14th, and 20 birthday cards by the first week of April. I’m going to have very little, if any, time to craft during March, so this will solve a lot of problems.

Here’s today’s card:

HedgieHeart

I colored the little hedgehog as part of my practice for the Colored Pencil Jumpstart class. Another personal goal is to use new or rarely used stamps this month. Kristina Werner had a video about curating a small selection of products to use for the month. I thought that was a good idea, too, so pulled a groups of Valentine and birthday stamp sets and put them in an antique wooden box I have in my craft room. I pulled a few dies as well, and two new embossing folders. You can see the embossing folder on this card. I love the Quilted Heart design.

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In addition to a Card-a-Day, I’m going to complete the Colored Pencil Jumpstart class, and also complete a photography class on using the iPhone that I signed up for in October. Along with the photography class, I’m commiting to taking a photo every day this month. I took almost no photos in January. That needs to change. I’m going to focus on using my mirrorless camera when not completing assignments for the class. I’d like to take it on a trip this spring, and I need to know if it will do what I want it to do.

Finally, I’m going to continue with The Unread Shelf project. I read two books from that collection last month, and hope to do the same this month. I created a book journal for that project, and I’ll share that later in the week.

I’m entering today’s card in three challenges:

Fusion 200123 Critter-001

Fusion: Critter

FMS Final 420-001

Freshly Made Sketches 

My sentiment is higher than the one on the sketch, but I see people make adjustments to sketches all the time, and I could not find a sentiment that worked well at the bottom of the heart.

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Challenge this week: Anything Goes

Now I need to get to the kitchen. I have three cute little girls and their parents coming for dinner.

Card Supplies:
Cardstock: Select White (PTI), Doll Pink (SS), Cherry Red (Gina K)
Stamp: Hedgie Luv (Penny Black)
Embossing folder: Quilted Hearts (Sunny Studio)
Dies: Stitched Hearts (MFT)

OWL: January Assessment

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We’re nearly at the end of January, and Honoré is hosting a link-up today for our monthly assessment of our OLW. 

COMMIT is my OLW for 2020, and so far it has proven to be a good motivation for keeping track of my intentions. One of the best decisions I made this year, was to set intentions month by month, rather than a longer list for the whole year.

For January, I set three:

1) The Unread Shelf Project:  Actually this will be a year-long goal, but each month has a different focus. This month we were to count our unread books. I was not surprised to discover we have over 200 books on our shelves that have not been read. Many have been started, but not completed. Frequently, for me, that’s because I have to abandon a book in order to complete the books for my two book groups. Hopefully, this project will help me get back to some of those. I also counted the unread books on my Kindle. Tracy and I share a Kindle account, so I counted only those books I hoped to read someday—another 27 in addition to the books on the shelves.

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We were also asked to reorganized our books so all the unread books were in one place. Now all the books on the bookshelf in our bedroom are unread books, and there are a some more in the guest room. In the process of reorganizing we identified 36 books that we would probably never read, and donated them to a good cause. (I think that’s part of February’s plan, but I’m guessing a few more could go then as well.)

The second part of the commitment to The Unread Shelf Project is to complete one of those unread books. I read A Gentleman in Moscow, which had been recommended to me multiple times by multiple people. They were right, it was a wonderful book, beautifully written.

2)  Taking two online coloring classes was the second goal. I’ve written about them here and here. I did complete the Coloring Challenge Road Trip class, and I’ve completed half of Sandy Allnock’s Colored Pencil Jumpstart class. I had hoped I’d be able to move on to another project in February, but clearly I need more time with the Colored Pencil Jumpstart class. Each of the lessons so far has included three to five videos with worksheets for each of the new skills. Here’s a sample of one of the many practice worksheets, we’ve been asked to complete.

CPPracticeSheet

3) The third goal for January was to prepare three meatless meals each week, and to create a meal plan on the weekend. This has been totally successful, and my “meat and potato” husband has had no complaints. I’ve finally figured out how to do the meal planning on my recipe app, Paprika.

Paprika

I can’t recommend this app highly enough. Paprika 1) stores any recipe I download into categories of my choosing, 2) links the ingredients from recipes on the app to my grocery list, 3) can be set so items that are put into my cart “disappear” from the list as I shop, and 4) allows both of us to add items to the list, and to divide up the grocery shopping on the rare occasions we shop together.

So it’s been a productive month. In addition to A Gentleman in Moscow, I’ve finished How to Read the Constitution—And Why (our couples’ book group choice for January,) and Olive, Again. Before Friday (then end of January), I will have finished The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion. It’s this month’s book from my interfaith book group and a book from the Unread Shelf! This keeps me current with my year-long goal of reading a minimum of four books a month.

I’ll be back in a few days with my February intentions.

 

 

One Little Word: Recap and Commitment

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Earlier this week, I gave some thought to how my One Little Word: YES! served me last year. It was a mixed bag. Overall, I was successful at saying YES to the things that really mattered to me, and letting go of some things that were no longer fulfilling. The most surprising decision was deciding to give up my Project Life scrapbooking. The albums take up so much room, and some months I had lots to record, others not much. I’m hoping to switch to creating an annual photo book but I’m not making any promises as two of my totally unfulfilled intentions last year were to create two photo books from our international travels. I gathered up all my scrapbook paraphernalia and donated it, which cleared up a bit of space in my craft room.

I joined Ali Edward’s OLW class thinking it might help keep my intentions in front of me, but truthfully, I stopped being accountable somewhere in June, and never really got back on track. I listed 19 intentions for 2019, and a friend commented that 19 seemed rather ambitious. That proved to be true. I counted only 10 of them where I was totally or partially successful.

So what now? Usually by mid-November I have a short list of words I’m considering. That didn’t happen at all this year. It wasn’t until last week that I happened upon an ad on Instagram for a planner from Commit30.com. I’d already purchased my planner for 2020, one I’ve used successfully for three years, so I wasn’t tempted to make another purchase. The word, COMMIT, however resonated with me as did the process of setting a goal or intentions for each month. Commit: a willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in, or a promise or firm decision to do something.

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So COMMIT, it is, and I’ve decided to choose one or more intentions for each month, COMMIT to those, and reconsider what I’ll do during the succeeding month. I’m thinking this will be much more effective than having a longer list for whole year. Yesterday, Honoré announced she’ll be hosting a link-up for monthly progress reports. I’ve already added the January date to my calendar.

I’ve also chosen to join The Unread Shelf Project. January’s goal is to count your unread books, gather them together in one place, and to finish one of those books by the end of the month. Since I’m away from home, counting the books on the shelves will have to wait until next week, but I already know there are 37 unread books on my Kindle. In fairness, my husband and I share the Kindle list, so he added some of those books, but I counted everyone I’d like to read. My book for January is A Gentleman in Moscow, started long ago, but never finished.

The other item on the list is to complete two online classes: Colored Pencil Jumpstart, a Christmas gift from Tracy, and a new online card class The Coloring Challenge Road Trip. I’m thinking the two classes should work together well.

Inspired by a NY Times article, I’m going to attempt to serve three meatless meals each week. Living with a meat and potatoes guy means this may be a challenging intention, but he seems willing to give it a try.

So that’s it for January. I’ll be interested to see if this process works well. And I’m willing to give myself some slack until I see how many goals/intentions I can follow through with in any given month. I may have overreached for January. I know that during months where we’re traveling this year the goals/intentions will need to look very different.

OLW 2019: Intentions

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My intentions for this year were inspired by a comment in an email from fellow blogger, Honoré, indicating she was thinking of 19 things to do in 2019. I thought it was an inspired idea and have settled on 19 things I’d like to accomplish this year.

  1. Complete a photo book about our trip to Istanbul and Greece.
  2. Complete a photo book about our trip to Morocco.
  3. Catch up with Project Life
  4. Project 52: complete 52 photowalks and post at least one photo from each on Instagram or on my blog.
  5. Master the controls on my mirrorless camera.
  6. Try 12 new techniques for card making. (I’ve got a list and a Pinterest board.)
  7. Conquer the Cameo.
  8. Master the art of layering stamps.
  9. Complete 100 sketches.
  10. Complete six online classes.
  11. Journal daily.
  12. Meditate/reflect three times/week when I’m not traveling.
  13. Read 50 books. (I keep a record on Goodreads.)
  14. Keep one day free of commitments each week.
  15. Work out 120 times. (My goal when we’re home is to work out 3 days/week. I set this goal by estimating the number of weeks we’re likely to be away this year—quite a few, I think.)
  16. Maintain the eating plan I’ve adopted in the last month. (I’ve been meeting with an integrative health practitioner and have had good success in eliminating discomfort from arthritis and other annoying symptoms of old age.) Admittedly, it’s a challenge.
  17. Do weekly meal planning on the Paprika app.
  18. Continue with my volunteering.
  19. Attend Ecumenical Advocacy Days in Washington, D.C.

Over the years, some of the words I’ve chosen have been transformative, and others not so much. Last year I lost track of both my word and my intentions, so this year I signed up for Ali’s course. I don’t have any desire to create an album, but I have set up a little notebook, some tracking pages, and intend to use Ali’s prompts to reflect on where I am each month.

Cover

I think I purchased this notebook at Target a year or so ago, and I think it will work well. The pages in it are a bit heavier than most so I think it will hold up to some stamping and some embellishment if I choose to do that. So far, this is how I have it set up.

FirstPage

My word and the inspiration for it.

Trackers

I have three Trackers downloaded from Elise Joy. I put them at the very front since I’ll need to access them regularly. Once I get home, I’ll start tracking all three items: diet, exercise, and meditation. There was no way I could keep up with that while we’re away, and besides I don’t have access to a gym here. I am, however, being very careful with my diet. In December, I started working with a holistic healthcare practitioner. I’ve been following an eating regime that is basically no carb, no sugar since the beginning of December. It also involves some supplements, and I have to say it’s been a good experience. I’ve tried in the past to follow an anti-inflammatory diet, but had a hard time sticking to it. Being accountable is key for me. At the beginning of November, I was seriously considering another set of cortisone shots for my hips and knee, but now I don’t even take across the counter medication for pain. I walked 26+ miles the week we were at Disney without any significant discomfort. I gave myself a break while we were there, but even with some “cheats,” the pain stayed away. An added benefit, is losing seven pounds. I’d like to lose three more, but this wasn’t about weight loss to begin with. 

Intentions

The last tracker and the list of intentions for 2019.

Calendar

More on my intentions and a calendar for keeping track of what I accomplish each month.

Lists

And, finally, two of several lists to help me remember some of the things I’m thinking about for creative projects.

I’m hoping this will help keep me on track this year, and make YES one of those transformational words.

 

One Little Word 2019

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I’m off to a slow start this year, but not because I had trouble finding my word. It ended up leaping out at me from a wonderful blog I discovered through Michelle GD. (More about that coming up.) It’s a slow start because I’m not home. We left Rochester on January 4th and won’t return until the 27th. That’s a long time for us to be away, but we’re helping Sarah and Adam while both of them are attending conferences this month. The bonus was a trip to Disney World last week prior to Sarah’s conference in Orlando. We’re now settled in with Adam and the kids. When Sarah comes home, there will be a few days with everyone here, and then Adam leaves for several days. So, despite a lot of thinking about how I’d like to approach my word this year, getting the ideas down for the blog has taken quite a bit of time.

In November, I thought I had chosen my word. Then in December through one of Michelle’s blog posts or newsletters there was a link to ViewFinders, a wonderful photography blog. I happened on this photo by Lucy Loomis.

Yes

The minute I saw it, I thought to myself, that might be my OLW. Then I read Lucy’s words and knew I was correct.

We don’t know the reason that someone would tack up a positive little sign like this, but I want to think that it was to encourage us to all say YES to this life, on the first day of the year or the last.  Say YES to the important things, say YES I will make a difference, say YES I will be kind and compassionate, say YES I will love with all my heart, say YES I will help and hope, and finally, say YES, YES, YES, I am here on this earth, in this beautiful and sometimes broken place, and I will give it everything I’ve got.

Lucy kindly gave me permission to share her photo and her beautiful words. So, YES, is my word for 2019. It feels just right.

So I’m saying YES . . .

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. . . to time with family

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. . . and friends.

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. . . to volunteering and helping others.

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. . . to healthy eating habits and regular exercise.

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. . . to creative pursuits-old and new.

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. . . to new adventures.

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. . . to reviving my photography practice.

I’ll be back tomorrow with more on my intentions for living with YES in 2019.

 

One Little Word 2018

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It takes me a long time to think about and choose a word to accompany me during the new year. This year, my word “appeared” in November and the more I thought and wrote about it, the more it seemed like a good fit. One thing I wanted from this year’s One Little Word was that it would incorporate the last three OLWs that have provided good guidance, and in some cases, been transformative. They are SIMPLIFY (2014 & 2015), MINDFUL (2016) and CHOOSE JOY/GRATITUDE (2017). This year’s word . . .

Nourish-text-goldleaf copy

. . . seems to meet that criteria.

This definition captures what I hope NOURISH will do during 2018: “to cause to develop or grow stronger; to foster the development of; promote; to support and encourage. As I thought about “nourish” and how it might guide me, I divided my intentions into three areas:

Mind

  • Morning reading time
  • Sketching
  • Classes: Sketching Now: Watercolor, Linda.com: Lightroom 6, Holstee*, Craftsy
  • Improve photography: work on the photographic journal (a Christmas gift), CY365
  • Continue to declutter and purge
  • Create two travel photo books (for some reason this continues to be an intellectual and creative challenge!)

 Body

  • Healthy diet: focus on anti-inflammatory/whole foods
  • Regular exercise routine (3/week minimum) & daily stretching
  • Rest; maintaining a balanced schedule

Soul

  • Every day, find a way to give something to someone: thanks to God, lend a helping hand, thank someone for kindness, give $5 to the needy, give a compliment
  • Quality time with family and friends
  • Spiritual direction
  • Daily prayer/meditation practice
  • Daily journaling/Morning and Evening Reflections
  • Volunteering
  • Contemplative Photography
  • Catch up with Project Life
  • Card Making

I think it’s easy to see how NOURISH incorporates the concepts of simplifying, becoming more mindful, and expressing gratitude. I know there will be days when the daily meditation and journaling will fall by the wayside. But I do believe that by having them written down as an intention, they are much more likely to happen.

*I’ve joined Holstee this year. If you look through the site you’ll see that they have a series of themes–one for each month. I’ve used their journals on reflection and intention already and find them very helpful. Before I joined, I subscribed to their daily reflections. It didn’t take long for me to appreciate the wisdom being delivered to my inbox every morning. I can also highly recommend Jessica Swift’s 100 Uplifting Days. I’m on Day 99, and I will miss them! I can’t tell you how often during the last 99 days just the right message showed up in my email with a piece of beautiful mixed media art and an inspiring quote.

I found the graphic for nourish on the internet and there was no attribution attached to it. It’s such a perfect fit!