Well, let's see how I did...

On my list of crazy goals for my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list. So I guess that means that my birthday is today! First of all I think I did fairly well and learned quite a lot over the past year. I also planning on making a few changes in my next list for next year which I will unveil in a few days. I managed to get 20 of the 27 things crossed off! Even though some of the things didn't happen, I still am proud that I got that much finished up!


(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (so I only made it half way in this goal, I just didn't make the time to get this one done)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (Again i went with the ebbs and flows of either not making the time, effort, or that I felt like nothing interesting was happening that would be worth reading)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (this was horrible, i didn't make time for it and I just didn't really think about it)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i did make some cupcakes and cookies and cakes, so lots of baking occurred- I think that we can draw the conclusion that I like sweets)
5. Make 2 full size quilts 
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (I didn't really make a dent in it but I have been using up lots of randoms)
7. Try something new (re-entered the dating world, super scary and was a wacky experience, but in the end was a good time plus a learning experience)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (didn't really happen again i blame my time management skills)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing (my best friend surprised me and took me out to a local driving range it was a blast!)
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (the list is growing in a good way but I still managed to cross a lot off over the last year)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (this almost always happened so exciting!)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (we have a few from our adventures that are going to work)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (still playing catch up but am getting better!)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (I have really got back into the walking/running routine and I am getting a lot better!)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (totally went swimming even though it was in an indoor pool)
22. Play a game of tennis (yesterday, talk about last minute planning, but we played! it was cold but I think once it warms up, it will be an awesome way to burn off a bunch of calories)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (went to a few looking for costume stuff for the little man)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop (will happen eventually
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in the works)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

A late recap...

of my 27 things to do before I turn 27 list. Overall, I managed to cross off a few more things during September good thing since October is the last month of trying to get any of these done! It sure was a busy month and I unintentionally took a little blog writing sabbatical, but don't worry I am back with a whole lot more fun and energy for the blog! I am back from my weekend adventure to the first Sewing Summit and it really has renewed my energy and love of sewing, blogging, and creating (I was in a serious funk). Look for a couple of posts about it starting tomorrow. Anyways, here is my self-portrait from the month:

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (5 down and I started a new one--- but this one probably isn't going to be completed)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (I was so horrible at this but this month is going to be awesome!)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (I am going to count that my bff and I got x's birthday invites done using a bunch of my scrapbooking supplies)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (banana bread, applesauce, a bunch of yummy stand-by recipes)
5. Make 2 full size quilts 
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (Haven't really done a whole lot of sewing)
7. Try something new (re-entered the dating world, super scary and was a wacky experience, but in the end was a good time plus a learning experience)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (this one is probably not going to happen mainly because my holiday schedule is really tight)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing (didn't happen this year)
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (a few more things made it off the list)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(decorated for Halloween WOOOT!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (managed to take a couple)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (next week is the week!)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (still playing catch up but am getting better!)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (I have really got back into the walking/running routine and I am getting a lot better!)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (totally went swimming even though it was in an indoor pool)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (nothing happening there)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

I am not sure where August went...

but welcome September (totally one of my favorite months since fall is just right around the corner). Really it is the busiest part of the year for me not only with holidays, work, but birthdays and so many of my favorite activities. Time management is going to be a huge thing for me in the coming months since I have so many projects in the works.

This month I actually didn't manage to take any self-portraits this month (weird, i know), but somehow I had my picture taken more than usual. This photo above is one of my favorites of me and my best friend kristen. We went to a little harley motorcylce get together with my parents which was super fun!


So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (5 down and I started a new one--- but this one probably isn't going to be completed)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (once again end of the month business came into play in order to try and do better I found my blog planning notebook so I can pre-plan a few posts a week)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (nothing going on here, but i am planning on sorting through all of my stuff and get it organized)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (baked a cake!)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (finished a quilt up for my mom!! well almost just need to finish binding two sides)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (i have really been using things from there!)
7. Try something new (I went rafting scary but fun!)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (working on planning out my holiday class schedule which will probably be light)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (a few more things made it off the list)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(getting ready to tackle the fall decorating and am making some new halloween goodies.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (only managed to have my photo taken by others)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (planning on a fall one as soon as the leaves start turning)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (blogs and I are on the outs in reading so commenting has been horrible, i need to spend some time trying to catch up on my blog reading)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (Ahhh, running I really miss you since I sucked and barely went--- but have no fear you will see me again)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (not sure that this one is going to make the cut)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (nothing happening there)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

July's Goal Recap, a little later than usual...

mainly because I have been having a few up and down kind of days throughout the last week. Oh, well that's the way life rolls, I suppose. I really didn't make any progress on most of the goals which is totally lame as I am closing in on the big 2-8. The one thing I did manage is to take a new self-portrait: 

This one is probably my favorite so far, even though it's a little out of focus. Well, lets move on to more important part of how much I didn't get done on my goals for the month. I am already attempting to make up for it this month!

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still working on this one and hopefully will get it finished up in the next week.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (was doing really well until the end of the month)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (nothing going on here, but i am planning on sorting through all of my stuff and get it organized)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i tried out a enchilada recipe that i made up and some other random thing)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (I actually finished 1 quilt and have another in progress which is going to get finished up this month!!!)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (mostly using scraps in my FWQAL & for a few other projects)
7. Try something new (i tried a few new workouts this month that I really enjoy.)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (a slacker in the class teaching business)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (crossed a few things off!)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (i went through some and really started updating it with lots of fun new things)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods (I am going to count this as finished up since participate in swaps in the modern quilt guild)
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(already started collecting some stuff for fall decorating which is my favorite time of year!!!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (this seems to be one monthly goal that I can stick, too!)
17. Go hiking (hoping this week or next week to go in the early afternoon)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (planning on a fall one as soon as the leaves start turning)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (i haven't even read any blogs this month, I think I took a little blog reading break)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (I am working on getting back into the routine and really pushing myself to go farther with any of my workouts)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (not sure that this one is going to make the cut)
22. Play a game of tennis (I finally found someone to play with so we just need to set up a time and go for it)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (i really didn't have a ton of time for this mayeb this month)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (I just need to work out a few more paperwork details and do some illustrations for the shop to get up and running.)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair (probably won't happen this year but next year for sure!)

Goodbye June, Hello July...

okay, June went by way to quickly and I feel like I hardly got anything accomplished, but I think that July is going to be way better and probably just as busy. Overall, I think I am making progress on more of my "live" better goals but otherwise I have been slacking.

So, lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still working on this one and hopefully will get it finished up in the next week.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (this month I was actually blogging a bit more thanks to the Farmer's Wife Quilt Along)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (let's face it, this is probably one of my lowest priorities right now.)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i made just a couple little things)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (finishing up the binding on the one quilt and getting ready to cut out another)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (I am using nothing but scraps for a few gifts and for my FWQAL blocks)
7. Try something new (I am trying a bunch of new things, like getting over my shyness)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (i am going teach more classes starting next month)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got a couple things off the list)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (am going to be tackling this goal this weekend)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(slacked off here)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (I really like this photo for some random reason)
17. Go hiking (now it is super hot but I have been running)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (we got a couple)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a little progress)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (getting out there and am planning on doing yoga at least once a week for an hour)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out (I need to get a swimsuit)
22. Play a game of tennis (so far only on the wii)
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (went to a yard sale and that is about it)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in progress I just need to customize it and get a little paperwork done)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns (I was lucky enough to attend and it was a blast!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

It's that time again... Monthly Recap!!!

May was awesome to put it mildly. So many fun things took place and I actually got a few things finished (always a plus). Not only that, my online shop will probably be open in the next couple of weeks (I can't wait!!!) I finally feel like my life actually might be getting back on track. The past few years have provided plenty of twists, turns and stumbles that I wasn't sure if things would ever start getting better. Now, however, I feel much stronger, happier, and healthier plus I feel like I am headed in the right direction with so many choices. My solo parenting skills I think are improving (its definitely tough and frustrating at times but most of the time it is so wonderful and an awesome adventure) and I love watching my son grow into the greatest little man I know. He pushes me to grow and challenges me in ways I never thought possible. I really find that I am coming into my own, experiencing new things, meeting new people, and just having a ton of fun doing that!

So lets check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (4 down working on the next one... I am still a little behind on this one so I might start taking a book with me to work and catch up on my lunch break.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (getting better!)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i made a little book to record my goals, but I think I am going to wait to put it all together on the last month.)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (actually trying out 4 new recipes tomorrow, most from cooking light.)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (almost have my innocent crush queen-sized quilt finished up and am working on my single girl quilt.)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (used up a charm pack and a few fat quarters this month)
7. Try something new (this month was full of them, went dancing, went on a solo adventure, ran in a 5k, and a ton more)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (still working on this one)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got three things of it!)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (going to be on a huge making clothes binge in june)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(planning out a few things to make for 4th of july but otherwise have just been adding some regular decor items)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (those sunglasses are my new favorites!)
17. Go hiking (the weather has been pretty crappy so hopefully this month will be the one.)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (we took a few more this month)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a little progress)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (ran a 5k! Plus shaved 10 mins off my practice time)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (really didn't do this a whole lot, but i found a couple more shirts for x)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (in progress I just need to customize it and get a little paperwork done)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns (I was lucky enough to attend and it was a blast!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

Its Monthly Recap time...

April was another interesting month, I was not at my best with time/project management. Oh well, I guess I am going to have to work on that in May. One of the things that I am really working on is saying no and turning down commitments that are not super important to me or things that I have "outgrown" so to speak. I am in a phase of trying to edit out things in order to make room for new things and adventures. Since this is my year of starting over, I am really starting to feel like I am coming into my own. 

Alright, time to check in on my list of 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (3 down and a new one started)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (slowly making progress on this one)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i made a little notebook and picked up some stickers for dollar )
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (tried some vegan peanut butter cups, they weren't quite vegan because i couldn't find vegan chocolate chips. I have since found some and will be trying out this recipe again. I actually loved how they turned out.)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (actually finished one quilt this month, still working on one more)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (started using up some of my stash for random projects, like the single girl quilt.)
7. Try something new (practiced riding my scooter, finally made it over 30 mph and am studying up for my motorcycle endorsement)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (still working on this one)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (got another two things off the list)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (managed to do a little updating for the summer season, that is if the weather ever gets warmer, but more on that later.)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(getting ready to amp up some spring decorating but I did decorate for easter)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (i managed to take several different photos that included me this month! see photo above)
17. Go hiking (I actually had this planned for last Thursday, but the weather didn't hold up and was cold and windy. So this one is going to have to be rescheduled.)
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (got a really fun one at the easter egg hunt that we went to. )
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (made a few more comments than last month and have been keeping up on blogs a little better.)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (this has been hard fitting it in but it is one of my major priorities for May)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (found x a few batman shirts this month and that is about it)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns (I won't have a booth there, but I am going to quilt market so that will count especially as research!)
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

Let's see how March turned out...

 I think March could be called the month that I took on tooo much. I really felt the crunch and it made me realize I need to re-evaluate my priorities. So April, will be about that and getting back on track with a few things (especially my sewing- hehe). As March comes to an end, I have been tackling some spring cleaning and doing a lot of reorganization around my house (trying to declutter and free up space!) Plus, I am making a few plans for re-decorating my son's room and changing my room up a little bit! 


Here is my self-portrait for the month- somewhat on the lame side but it is a good before I get my hair colored photo!

Anyways, I thought I would take a look at my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (read 1 and just a few chapters shy of finishing a second)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (i think i only missed blogging three times this week)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (i managed to get my desk cleared off and got a mini book together for this goal projects )
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (I baked some peanut and jelly bars, they turned out pretty)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (i have two quilt tops in progress, one is queen size and finished the backing for the queen sized one)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (i did make a small dent in my stash and am using lots of scraps for my blocks for in the magic valley modern quilt guild's mystery block of the month)
7. Try something new (this month i went walking on a new trail, it was great to be working out outdoors)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (i had one planned but it got canceled)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (only got 2 things off the list)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (just need to get a photo for the next installment of the versatile wardrobe series)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(i still need to decorate for easter!!!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (see above photo)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (managed to take a couple of photos)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (i am so far behind on reading blogs it is not even funny)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (began a new training program to do this)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (i was to busy to do any thifting this month)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

Wow, February...

 you went by so quickly. To tell you the truth I am excited that Spring will hopefully soon be here, I can't wait to get in the garden, have more daylight, and warmer days! February was a fairly productive month for me and I made the decision to really calm down my schedule so I can focus on my son,  my job, starting my business, and making working out a very big priority (I am down another 8.5 lbs and my goal is another 8-10 for this month, totally doable I think. I just really need to schedule my workouts and stick to them.) One of the things that is really getting an overhaul is my teaching schedule, it is going to be on the fewer side of things for a bit! Maybe during the summer I will be able to amp it up again, but I want to have a little bit more time for everything else in my life, so something had to give.

Anyways, I thought I would take a look at my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...
(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (still working on this one, but am close to having 3 finished up!!!.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (only made a little over half of my goal this month, March is going to have to be a lot better)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (I did manage to get an album together for the goals, but other than that it just keeps piling up)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (I made some soups and pizza)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (i have one quilt top in progress and have finally picked a quilt out for my bed)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (most things have been coming from my stash, but interfacing and muslin have been being used up like crazy)
7. Try something new (I really enjoy zumba and next month it will be time to try spinning)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (this is probably really going to start up in the summer, i need to focus on getting more of my patterns ready)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (crossed off a couple of more things)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure (trust me it was exciting!)
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (ready to start blogging about this...finally)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(have an idea for a st. patrick's day mini quilt, an easter wreath, and a spring wreath)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (thought it would be an in action shot)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (need to take more a few more of us together)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (i barely made it through my google reader this month in any sort of timely manner, and i did end up editing down the number of blogs I read in order to make it a little more managable )
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (getting back on the running track this week)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (again I went twice this month and scored some great patterns and books)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

Bring on the L-O-V-E!!!

Well, I am glad that January is coming to an end because we are that much closer to spring and warmer days (I hate being cold). February is one of my favorite months- mainly because of Valentine's Day (yes, I am that super romantic gushy girl even though most people don't know it. I am a sucker for all the cheesy things, red & pink hearts, flowers and chocolates, etc.) I have already hung up a little bit of Valentine decor around the house and figured out what our annual Valentine card is going to look like (as a bonus I got the photo taken already and now they just need to be printed). As soon as I can get a little free time, I have a couple of Valentine projects that I want to make.

I also managed to take a few self-portrait shots this month. Here are two of my favorites:

 Anyways, I thought I would take a look at my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...

(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (still working on this won, but am close to having 3 finished up!!!.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (working on it.)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (I did manage to get an album together for the goals, but other than that it just keeps piling up)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (i made applesauce, banana bread, some vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (i have one quilt top in progress)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving (I have been using a ton from my stash and refraining from buying just random fabric as much as possible)
7. Try something new (I went to a club zumba workout class and totally fell in love with it, the class is one of my new obsessions)
8. Go bowling (our work is having a bowling party in feb. so this is totally going to get crossed off next month)
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns (teaching one next tuesday night)
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (crossed off a couple of more things)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure (I have one planned in the next couple of weeks!)
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating (completed the purging part)
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(already have the LOVE decor up!)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (love this month's self-portrait, can't get enough of these sunglasses I picked up at target.)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (need to take more a few more of us together)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (I managed to leave about 15-20 comments last month, not nearly enough! Since i subscribe to a ton of blogs i am going to at least try and comment on 30 posts in feb. and I need to try and stay caught up on reading them since I seem to be falling behind.)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs (getting better...)
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (went thrifting twice this past month and scored some fun stuff)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

New Year's Eve...

the christmas decorations are coming down and the snowmen things are going up for the month of January. I am ready to start a new year with a fresh slate and make a few changes along the way as well as trying a bunch of new things (new two favorite quotes for the new year "fear is not an option"-dvf and "In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different. "-Coco Chanel"). Those two quotes are going to be my mottos for 2011.  

 

 (only picture I took of myself this month- total slacker...)

Since it is the last day of the month, I better check in with my 27 things to do before I turn 28 list...

(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (I haven't managed to finish a whole book, but I am reading 3 at the same time by next month I should be back on track with this one.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (I managed to blog at least once maybe twice a week. My schedule has calmed down aka not getting up quite so early so I have enough time to actually blog.)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (really failing with this one)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (all the cookie baking in the last month made this one rather easy)
5. Make 2 full size quilts  (I almost have a quilt top complete just need to add borders and get some backing!!)
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving
7. Try something new (joining our community's weight loss challenge that goes through June, I have already lost some weight  but I need something that will provide me with a little more motivation like winning a prize. We all know that I am super competitive ;)... )
8. Go bowling (we actually got x a little bowling lane, it keeps score and everything, but I still want to make it to the bowling alley at least once this year.)
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (crossed of 2 things from that list...)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)(totally went all out for christmas and am planning on some V-day decor for feb.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (this one (above the list) is the only picture I managed to sneak in, super lame I know and not a great picture but it will do for this month. taken on christmas day.)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (plans are in the works for our valentine card)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read (I am making time for this one for the month of January, since i subscribe to a ton of blogs i am going to at least try and comment on 30 posts in jan.)
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (in order to find new things for photo props, household decor, etc...)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (major goal for 2011!!!)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

27 Things before I turn 28 Check-in...

So I totally didn't remember to post a little recap/check-in of my new goals. I really don't think I made a ton of progress during November and am hoping to make a little progress in December.

(items in orange are the status of each goal, so I can see my progress and figure out what I need to work on more. I want to make sure that I keep up with them and here are the rules/guides I created for myself:

1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month (I have spent some time catching up on my magazine reading and I did manage to pick up a new Murder, She Wrote book that I just need to start. On a side note: I have been busy reading to X before he goes to bed and we are currently reading several different stories and a few chapter books.)
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features) (slowly making a comeback in this one, my schedule is so crazy that I really have to work on a few posts in advance in order to accomplish that)
3. Scrapbook twice a month (I have been busy making tags for the cookies but no actual scrapbooking)
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing) (totally have conquered this one this month, with several new cookie recipes!!)
5. Make 2 full size quilts
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving
7. Try something new (like how I attended a Mixology class last month)
8. Go bowling (a plan is in the works for that one)
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle my sewing work-in-progress list (trying to get a few things crossed of it)
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (I took one with X during the first snow of the season!)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me (I really am working on getting more photos of the two of us together, I <3 them!!)
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (in order to find new things for photo props, household decor, etc...)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns (working on this at the moment and my goal deadline just don't seem to work out, so I will just make sure to get it done sooner than later-lol)
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair

The New List...

alright here is the new list for my 27 things to do before I turn 28! Here are my rules (*I am adding a few new rules*):
1. try and accomplish all the goals in one years time
2. complete a monthly recap on the blog at the end of each month
3. document goal progress with a photo or a photo for completion (*this one is new)
4. add a page to a scrapbook about the goal (* I think I will make a little mini-book to document the process of completing my goals and this will also help with goal #3.)

The goals:
1. Read 1 book a month
2. Blog 3 times a week (along with introducing new features *the first one up starts on Friday- Festive Fridays)
3. Scrapbook twice a month
4. Bake once a month a new recipe (either bread, cookies or some other yummy thing)
5. Make 2 full size quilts
6. Use up my fabric stash even the little pieces I have been saving
7. Try something new (like how I attended a Mixology class last month)
8. Go bowling
9. Teach more sewing classes using my own patterns
10. Go to the driving range and practice my golf swing
11. Tackle me sewing work-in-progress list
12. Take Xavier on an adventure
13. Go through my closet and do some much needed purging and updating
14. Participate in one online swap like a pincushion, pillow, or urban home goods
15. Go all out with the decorating and activities around the holidays (like christmas, easter, etc.)
16. Take a new self-portrait once a month (*the photo of me above is the first one!)
17. Go hiking
18. Take a new family photo of X and me.
19. Comment more on all of the blogs I read
20. Increase the distance in my morning/afternoon runs
21. Going swimming when it is really warm out
22. Play a game of tennis
23. Go to thrift stores and yard sales more (in order to find new things for photo props, household decor, etc...)
24. Make some kits to sell in my online shop
25. Open my own shop on line selling my patterns
26. Attend Spring Market in Salt Lake City with a booth selling my patterns
27. Have a booth at a local craft fair