random reflections

OWL: January Assessment

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

My word and the inspiration for it.

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. 

The last tracker and the list of intentions for 2019.

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

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

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 4^th and won’t return until the 27^th. 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.

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 . . .

. . . to time with family

. . . and friends.

. . . to volunteering and helping others.

. . . to healthy eating habits and regular exercise.

. . . to creative pursuits-old and new.

. . . to new adventures.

. . . 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

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 . . .

. . . 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!

Mail, Memo, Me: Musings

It was supposed to be a quiet weekend after a very busy week once we returned from Chicago. Somehow, it flew by, and here we are at Monday evening already!

Friday night we had dinner with Tracy’s sister and brother-in-law at a new-to-us Asian restaurant. Tom had a Sushi platter, but the rest of us went with a hibachi plate. There are a lot of family events this summer, and we got a chance to talk about logistics among other things.

Saturday, it was my Dining Room Ministry team's turn to serve lunch. We were short-handed, but managed to get a hot lunch for nearly 70 on the table on time. But it was a lot more hectic than usual. Matt, Betsy, and the girls came for pizza. I only got one good photo---of Madelyn once again. She sits still the longest, and hasn’t developed an aversion to Grandma’s phone or camera.

Yesterday after church, I went right to the craft room to make sure all the cards for May were finished. It was a marathon session, and I finished 12, but still would like to make two more before the weekend when we’re off to visit my brother for a few days. It’s been well over a year since my brother and I have been together. And there’s a trip to NYC planned for Saturday---haven’t been there for 16 years!

I finished a book this weekend (well, actually this morning,) and thought I share three books I’ve read recently that I can highly recommend. Two are nonfiction, and one is a recently published novel that I put a hold on at the library.

The first is Becoming Wise: An Inquiry Into the Mystery and Art of Living by Krista Tippa. Many years ago, Sarah asked me if I listed to Tippa’s podcasts, “On Being.”  Sadly, I never did. Based on many years of interviewing scientists, novelists and poets, theologians, and philosophers among others, Becoming Wise distills wisdom from these interviews in five sections: "Words: The Poetry of Creatures," "Flesh: The Body’s Grace," "Love: A Few Things I’ve Learned," "Faith: The Evolution," and "Hope: Reimagined." It is a fascinating and thought-provoking read. My To Read list grew a bit longer as I added books written by people Tippa has interviewed.

The Women in the Castle was the featured novel in the Indie Book List pamphlet I picked up in Nashville in March. I had to wait a few weeks for it to reach my name on the hold list at the library, but it was worth the wait. I’ve read more than my share of Holocaust novels over the years. This was no less devastating than many of the others, but the points of view were dramatically different. It is a compelling read, and the current political situation came to mind more than once.

I think I’ve read nearly all of Thomas Friedman’s books. His ability to tell a story to teach a concept is unparalleled. I’ve learned so much from him. He’s latest book, Thank You For Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Acceleration, is no exception. The New York Times calls him an “exploratory journalist,” and in this book he explores the rapid change of technology, and why it’s nearly impossible to keep up; climate change and the impact it’s had on our political and cultural institutions, and the spinning market so connected to the acceleration of the internet. It’s a long book, but a fascinating read.

I also wanted to share a few thoughts and links on “Choosing Joy” and gratitude. I recently joined a new interfaith book group---Christian, Jewish, and Catholic. We’re planning to read theologically interesting and thought-provoking books. Our first selection was Marcus Borg’s Convictions which I’ve now read twice, and could easily read again.

One of the members of that group sent a link to a piece she wrote on Mother’s Day. It’s beautifully written, thoughtful, and compassionate. When I read it I recognized, once again, that I am blessed beyond measure. Gratitude is something I recognize daily in many large and small ways, but for some reason I’ve never been able to keep a gratitude journal for more than a month or two. It’s always bothered me, but this week I read a blog post by Anne Butera (who hosted the Handmade Joy Exchange) in which she reflected that when “life is more joyful, it’s easier to see the joy. It doesn’t take the practice of writing . . . to be able to see it.” Her observation was very comforting, and I’m very grateful that my life is joyful enough not to need a written list.

Enough of rambling. The mail brought my birthday gift (partially funded by generous gifts from my mother-in-law and my husband.) I’ve been eyeing a mirrorless camera for several years, and in January got to see one Adam had purchased. It does most of what my big cameras do, much more than my phone camera, and is less than half as big as the big camera. It won’t replace my big camera, but it’s small enough to fit into a larger purse for a day in the city or a long walk. It’s the first Olympus I’ve owned, and I’m just beginning to figure out the controls. I'll be testing it out in New York City on Saturday. Also in the mail was the stunning Build a Flower: Magnolia stamp by Alenew and a charming pair of scissors from Etsy.

I’ll leave you with two of the cards I made with the new stamp set yesterday for two upcoming May birthdays.

I watercolored this image, and mounted it on a smaller A4 card from The Paper Source.

This one I stamped with a combination of inks from Papertrey Ink and Simon Says. The Altenew layering stamps are pretty amazing. It's adhered to an A2 card from Memory Box and I added a few rainstones from PTI.

Hope your week is off to a good start. I'm waving (a bit late in the day) to Sian at From High In the Sky and the other memo makers!

 

 

Contemplative Photography

As I always do I've set some intentions to guide me through 2017 with my OLW: Joy. Two of them involve photography. One is the Capture Your 365 project which I haven't done in a couple of years, and thanks to my friend, the other is the exploration of contemplative photography. Mary has a knack for giving me gifts I didn’t even know I wanted and/or needed. Her Christmas gift this year was three books on contemplative photography. She knew that my OLW last year was Mindful, and that I had been exploring meditation and mindfulness. And she knows I love photography. Contemplative photography seemed like the perfect match, and I think she was right.

Shortly after dipping into The Little Book of Contemplative Photography, I discovered Adventures in Seeing on Sandie’s blog, which I purchased and had sent to Sarah’s while we were there. It's proving to be a good purchase, and I've really enjoyed following Kim's site, Contemplative Living through Photography.

Contemplative photography has a different slant that that of capturing the everyday moments, people, and landscapes of your day. Howard Zehr describes it as “being deliberate about approaching photography as a kind of meditative and spiritual discipline.” The subtitle of Kim Manley Ort’s book is “How the Camera Teaches You to Pause, Focus, and Connect with Life.” They advocate leaving your preconceptions behind, and stopping to pause, reflect, and contemplate before you click the shutter. All the books provide exercises and writing activities to use as part of your photography practice. Writing about my photography is a totally new concept to me. Kim Manley Ort hosts a FaceBook group where you can explore the exercises in her book with others. I've been following the discussion, and am just now getting ready to participate.

I’ve dipped into three of the four books, and have started following Kim Manely Ort’s blog which features some very thought-provoking and interesting posts. A week or so ago she posted an essay “The Power of Patterns.” She encouraged readers to look back over photos they’ve taken and to look for those that represent patterns. I knew I’d find quite a few, but was surprised at how many there were in my Lightroom library. I pulled out over 100 and then selected 20 of them to use in thinking about what kinds of patterns and themes run through my photography, and what kinds of metaphors I might find. It’s a whole new way of approaching photography, and I’m looking forward to exploring it.

 

Memorandum Monday

It's Monday already, and I'm joining in with Sian (and waving to her and everyone there) with Memorandum Monday. Sian's started a new Monday meme that asks that we "tell us something [we] did over the weekend FOR THE FIRST TIME." I don't have much in the way of photos because photos weren't appropriate in either setting.

As part of the exploration of my One Little Word, MINDFUL, I've been doing a lot of reading and thinking about mindfulness and meditation. Specifically, both of those in relationship to the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh. Two weeks ago, I attended an evening workshop at the Assisi Institute on Mindfulness and Meditation, but the practices there didn't seem to be a perfect fit. This week I was talking to a friend from church about other matters. I knew she had a long history in practicing meditation, and she offered to take me to the Newcomer's Orientation and Sangha at the Zen Center. (Although they meet at the Zen Center, this group does not practice Zen meditation which I am learning is quite different. They follow the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.) After a warm and welcoming introduction to the practice, the Sangha began. There is a 20 minute guided meditation followed by a 10 minute walking meditation, another 20 minute meditation session in quiet, and ending with another 10 minute walking meditation. For someone who has barely practiced at all, I thought I'd be in over my head, but not so. It was peaceful, relaxing, and I was pleased that I could keep myself centered on the breath for far longer than I anticipated. They only meet once a week, and it will be a couple of weeks before my schedule allows me to return, but I'm quite sure I will. The most important thing, however, is I now know a daily practice at home should be easier to establish than I imagined.

I've been wanting to attend the Compline Service on Sunday evening for a long time. There is a concert preceding it on the first Sunday of every month, and instead of watching the Super Bowl, my friend and I went to Christ Church. The organ recital was lovely, but the compline service sung by a group of highly talented voices was simply divine. No other word for it. Everything is performed in total darkness except for the alter which is bathed in candlelight. It was beautiful, moving, and totally refreshing. What a wonderful way to end a weekend! 

We're in the midst of having all the galvanized pipes replaced to our bathrooms. Our house was built in 1930, and the water pressure upstairs is poor to horrible. The contractor has finished the new plumbing in our powder room off the kitchen, and the new fixtures are in place. The old ceramic tile floor in my bathroom is gone (YAH!), and the plumbing there is complete. This week the new floor and fixtures should go in there, and then we'll be down to the last and, and very difficult, job of replacing the pipes to the small bathroom in the back of the house. That bathroom will need to be completely gutted, and the pipes go up the wall of the living room. (And that's another first for this week. We've lived here for 30 years, and I've never had to take a shower in that tiny shower before. Must admit, I'll be glad to be back in mine in a week or so.) 

Happy Monday to everyone! I hope it's a great week!

One Little Word: 2016

Sometime in the middle of December, I start thinking about my One Little Word for the next year. This year I listed three possibilities and let them rest. Suddenly one of them began to speak to me and seemed like a word that would encompass most of the intentions I’ve set for the new year.

(photo: Johnson Lake, Banff, AB)

I want to be mindful of my relationships with others.

I want to be mindful and attentive to the activities I engage in.

I want to be mindful of my body and how I treat it.

One of the pleasures of being away from home is the time to surf around the internet, and do some research. I’ve done a lot of reading about mindfulness in the last couple of weeks. It all started in November when I attended a Sunday Seminar on Mindfulness. I’ve tried and failed to start a meditation practice over and over again, but the professor presenting the seminar led me to believe I was being far too hard on myself. So, yes, I’m interested in the study of meditation and mindfulness in the more traditional sense. In fact, a friend gave me a wonderful set of books by Thich Nhat Hanh for Christmas.

But I look at this word in a more global way for my OLW. The best explanation I’ve found for my intentions was on Mindfulnet.org:

Mindfulness is a way of paying attention to, and seeing clearly whatever is happening in our lives.  It will not eliminate life's pressures, but it can help us respond to them in a calmer manner that benefits our heart, head, and body. It helps us recognise and step away from habitual, often unconscious emotional and physiological reactions to everyday events. It provides us with a scientifically researched approach to cultivating clarity, insight, and understanding. Practicing mindfulness allows us to be fully present in our life and work, and improve our quality of life.

I think it will help me with the intentions I’ve set for 2016. I limited myself to ten this year. Some are more specific than others, and some you’ll recognize from my 2015 recap. Liz Steel commented in a recent blog post that her “intention becomes a motivation,” and that’s been true for me.

1. Establish Morning and Evening Rituals:

    Morning: An hour to read and reflect: I have a list of reading projects that are perfect for this.

    Evening: Short daily recap; keep a daily gratitude journal.

2. Work to have a fitter, healthier, and trimmer body. I’ve joined Cheri and Melissa in Cathy Zielski’s FIT class, and want to continue the menu planning and food tracking I began in the fall.

3. Block out one day with no commitments/week.

4. Complete five sketches/week.

5. Read three books/month.

6. Complete one online class/month.

7. Purge: craft closet (again), digital folders, and attic.

8. Participate in Helena’s photography meme, Snap.

9. Catch up and continue with Project Life.

10. Work through my stamp collection when making cards; purge those that don’t work for me. Aim for one challenge/week.

We’re home for a brief stay to get Christmas put away, unpack, and repack in order to drive Tracy’s mother’s van to Fort Myer’s Beach for her. Once we return, I can set my focus on making 2016 the year of MINDFULNESS.

2015 Recap

It's the last day of the year, and time for a little assessment of the intentions I set last year with my OLW: Simplify. It was the second year for Simplify, and although I hadn't really finished with it, holding on to a word for a second year didn't prove to be very helpful or inspiring. Lesson learned. A year ago I typed up a document outlining my intentions for 2015. I found it this week, and it was fun to see exactly how well I’d done with them. I’m putting them out here as a way of being accountable, but fair warning, it’s a pretty long post.

Here they are with a bit of assessment:

One sketch a day. I didn’t come close to meeting this goal although I did completed one sketch a day during the month of May and again in October. I filled more than one and a half sketchbooks with finished sketches, and have another book nearly filled with experiments with different media and efforts to master a certain technique. There’ll be some kind of intention around sketching for 2016 as well.

Project 365 with the iPhone. Yes, I did take a photo every day with my iPhone. The intention was to learn how to use some of the many apps I had on my phone. I used Collect to organize the photos every month. I played around with a lot of editing apps, and have settled on Afterlight as the main app for editing photos. I also use SKRWT to correct images with distortions, PicTapGo when I need a good overall filter, & Retouch to get rid of elements I don’t want in the photo. I also like LetterGlow, Waterlogue, and HDRPhoto, although I don’t use them often. So I accomplished what I set out to do. This is the second Project 365 I’ve completed, and I don’t think I’ll tackle another one in 2016.

Participate in Helena’s meme: Pairs. Every week. Loved it. Looking forward to Snap in 2016.

Photography project: master back button focusing and panning. Nope. Not either one.

Read three books a month. Yep, exactly. I could certainly read more books if I read fewer blogs, but I get a lot of inspiration and information from blog reading, so I’m satisfied with this one. I also subscribe to and read three periodicals.

Organize and catch up with Project Life. In June I was all caught up, and I do have an organizational system set up. But being away a good part of the summer put me way behind again. I have four months (July is nearly done) to complete once I finish my Christmas Journal. (There’ll be no December PL pages.) Even though it’s hard to keep up, I love this system of memory keeping, and plan to keep at it.

Participate in one card challenge/week using a different stamp set each week. Not really. I did, however, make well over 200 cards this year. It’s still one of my favorite hobbies.

Purge and organize the basement. Done.

Purge and organize the attic. Not so much. On the list for 2016.

Organize art materials on IKEA cart. Yes, one of the best purchases of 2015.

Exercise: two spinning classea/week; three weight-training sessions; average 5,000 steps/day. Pretty inconsistent. We never got back to spinning class after our summer vacation. Weight training comes and goes. I was doing great this fall until Thanksgiving. I average 5,000 steps a day, sometimes it’s 12,000+ and others less than 5,000, but it averages out. Tracy and I hiked 76 miles on our vacation this year---a record for a three-week span. My friend and I have walked 5.5 miles once a week all fall and up until Christmas. If it’s not too snowy, we’ll be back at it in January.

Continue with no preservatives/whole food eating. Yes, we’re good about this, and I enjoy cooking. One of my best Christmas gifts was The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking with Science. It’s huge, but I already know I’m going to love reading it and trying out the recipes.

Practice portion control. This is probably my biggest deterrent to weight-loss. Once again it’s inconsistency that’s the problem.

Continue with volunteer commitments. I sit on four committees (three church-related, one mission center), volunteer at an after-school program once a week, cook meals with a Dining Room Ministry Team, and provide dinner for families staying at our church with the Rochester Interfaith Hospitality Network. The last two are rotations that come up every two or three months. I plan to continue with all of them next year, and don't anticipate adding any new ones. We're away so much, I have to be careful what kind of volunteer commitments I make.

Make photo book of our trip to Istanbul and Greece. This has been on the list for two years now. I’m not sure why I’m avoiding it, but obviously I need to get some help with it.

Participate in Voices every month. Voices is a noon-time discussion group at our church focused on a reading we get in advance. I’m there every week I’m in town. There is a core group of us (12-15) who are there every week, and it’s become a wonderful community.

Last, but not least, I had a long list of online classes I wanted to complete. I made a dent (a little one) in the list, but it will continue into 2016. I did complete several sketching classes (two by Liz Steel that were intense and wonderful), several Online Card Classes, and have been working on Cathy Zielski’s Clean and Simple: The Workshop over vacation.

I’ll be back soon with my One Little Word for 2016. I've been living with the new word now for over a week, and think it will serve me well. We’re still in Chicago visiting Sarah, and will only be home two days before we leave to take Tracy’s mother’s van to Florida. The schedule doesn’t lend itself to blogging very well.

Just an hour and a half until we usher in the New Year in Chicago! Not sure I'll still be up, but I am wishing all of you the Happiest of New Years. I hope yours is filled with many blessings!