It is amazing to me how motivating it is for me to set goals. I’m glad that I set these goals for January, even if they didn’t all get completed exactly as I’d hoped.
One thing I found was that the “biggest” goals were all intertwined. Usually, I try to complete one task before starting the next, but I found that in order to work on my Project 366, I need to be able to use LR effectively, and I needed to access my craft stuff, and so I had to do some organizing. I also needed to access my craft stuff to make a scrapbook page. As I went through my craft stuff to sort/organize, I found things I’d been looking for and therefore wanted to scrapbook and work on my Project 366. Sometimes it was overwhelming, and it made for slower progress than I’d expected.
Here’s how I did:
- set up my craft space. The shelves are set up. My craft supplies are somewhat compartmentalized on the shelves, but by no means is the room finished. This is a way bigger project than I’d anticipated. But I have to say, even just having my stuff separated onto the shelves has helped me get to it and use it more. My roadblock right now is my indecision about what types of containers to use for my supplies. I’ve heard good things about Cropper Hopper Paper Holders
, but I’d like to see them in person, and I’m not sure if they’re sold anywhere locally. I also need to figure out baskets/boxes/something for embellishments, tools and other (non-scrapbook) supplies. Maybe in February?
- make ONE layout this month. Done. I wish I’d had time to do more, but not with my other big project…(next item)
- wrap up my Project 366 album. Hoooooooo boy, is this a huge project. I had no idea how much time it would take me. I have ordered the rest of the prints (101!! Thankful for a Shutterfly sale at just the right moment) for the “main” part of the album. I still want to print some more for inserts. I made a list at the beginning of the month of all the little tasks that I’d like to do to complete the album, and it was a whole front side of a sheet of notebook paper– and that was just through mid-September!! I’ve been making a dent in the list, though. I finally bought myself a Tiny Attacher
(LOVE it!!) and have had a blast adding pull-out tabs to some of the extra cards I’ve been including throughout the year behind my main journaling cards and photos. I’ll hopefully be able to wrap up this project soon, and I am going to write a blog post about it, too.
- make (at least) one new recipe** from The Complete America’s Test Kitchen TV Show Cookbook 2001-2013
: we made three! flourless chocolate cake, chicken Provençal, and pancakes
- make (at least) one new recipe from The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook
. we made two! emmentaler on rye with sweet-and-sour onions and vinegar slaw with cucumbers and dill
- learn how to use Lightroom. I’m impatient with learning curves, and it’s been a big curve for me. But I have stopped (cold turkey) using PSE7 to do my organizing and basic editing, and so by default have been learning LR. I’ve watched a bunch of videos, which have been helping. I’m finding it hard to devote time to just sitting and watching videos, though! I wish I could find more of a class-type setup for LR. Anyone have a suggestion for me?
- Start thinking about a new garden! I’ve made a start.
- floss every night in January. Done! It’s almost becoming a habit! Maybe I can keep it up all year…(I really hate flossing, though.)
- consistent exercise habit. This month, I did a set of ab exercises and arm exercises almost every day. I also got back to using my pilates/yoga DVDs every so often, and it was even warm enough for me to walk outside with my daughter a couple times. It’s not consistent yet, but I’m making a conscious effort to work it back into my schedule.
- find a frame, print our family photo and hang it in our living room! Got the frame. I even hung the frame (because I was so excited). Enlarged the photo. Ordered the print… and I’ll pick it up this weekend!
Even though I can’t completely check off all of my goals for this month, I am really pleased with what I accomplished! I’ll be posting my February goals soon!
**It’s an interesting phenomenon: the more new recipes I make, the more I want to make! I’m not just making new ones from the cookbooks above, I’m also making some from online. I have a Pinterest board called “Eat” where I pin recipes that sound delicious, and I make sure to leave comments on recipes that I’ve tried. Check it out, if you’re interested!
embarrassed to say that I have never thought of making monthly goals, and it seems like such a fantastic idea! Have you heard of Flylady.net? she has changed my life in the area of creating habits and routines, i.e. flossing, which I also hate…but have done consistently for 6 months…I also have been exercising daily and highly recommend the indoor walking workout dvds by Leslie Sansone…I have 3 that I need to rotate otherwise hearing her say the same thing all the time is discouraging….they’re cheap on Amazon tho. Great job on the scrapping…I just started a mini album from our Disney trip in 2006! but it’s almost finished, so…check!
I have been all about goals this year as well. I have also loved posting about them on my blog. But I am having a hard time keeping up with the posting vs all the things I’ve accomplished. Nevermind, it will all come in time. I am an avid LR user and I LOVE it! Once you get over the initial learning curve then it will all seem so intuitive. I promise! I have a LR book but I honestly don’t use it that often. I am more a trial by error type person and I just practice. I am hoping to post a workflow post (Project Life mainly) early next week and I will be mentioning how I use Lightroom. I do think Kayla Lamoreaux (sp?) has some online classes. Sorry I don’t have the web address. I will look for it and stop back by if I find it. She is always very well prepared and knows her stuff! I have a goal of trying one new recipe each week as well as trying to complete two crafty projects each month this year. It has been so fun and so motivating. Good luck with all of yours. I can feel your enthusiasm. Great start to 2013!
I found her link and it looks like all of her great info is free of charge! Double check but I am pretty sure I saw that right. Go check it out: http://www.kaylalamoreaux.com/lightroom-for-memory-keepers/
Thanks so much for cheering me on, Margie, and thank you for stopping by to give me Kayla’s link! I did stop by her blog and watched some of her videos– Now I need to go watch them again
I know what you mean about keeping up the posting! It’s much more fun to just do all the stuff, rather than sit down and actually type out blog posts. But it’s so satisfying to have a record/portfolio, isn’t it? 