goalsetter... {nablopomo day 22}

if you know me, even a little, you will know
i am a list maker...
i have an app on my phone
just for lists.
lists like:

  • Pick up
  • Groceries
  • Car
  • Movies to watch
  • Movies i have watched
  • Movies i would watch again
  • Finances
  • Music i love
  • Holidaze
  • Books i want to read
  • Books i have read
  • i want i want i want
  • Blog-about
  • Lunch ideas
  • Sizes
  • Things i want to know more about
  • Winter bucket list
  • I want to::

and that's just what is currently on there.  :)
i also keep lists in my day-timer...first...and most importantly is "yay!"
where i post little things that happen during the week that make me smile
like finding a parking spot on a thursday morning or seeing a tiny flock of birds

and last week i added a special note to myself...
a reminder to calm down.  to breathe.  to let go. 
and some ideas of what to do INSTEAD of working for
at least a little bit of the night...(and seriously when i read that...that sounds kind of sad.)
and, for the record, there are stickers...cause...well...they are stickers!
 

you will notice...i forgot to call my mother. 

but mainly for the really important things...
like dinner dates with best friends <3

so...all this is to say that I am adding a new line to the Goals list for this week.
last week was all nablopomo and calm the eff down
(seriously, that's what it said.  calm the eff down.)

told you

told you

but this week, i am adding walking...
and eating right again.  but walking...I have to got to get back to doing something
other than sitting in a computer chair.
so i have made a commitment.
and
it's in the daytimer
so it's pretty much set in stone (it is written in pen)(and not the erasable one).

wish me luck.

oh...and a kitten pic...cause...how can i not post that cuteness.

This Life::Project 365

So.

I have not completely hammered out my resolutions yet
but I have a vague idea of what they will look like.
I do know that I want to take more photos this year,
more photos of my own life, my family, my kids, my world...
I feel like I have been caught up in a vortex of weddings
and capturing other people's families...
which then makes me NOT want to pick up the camera on my own time.

that has to change.
I know I said it before but this time, I really, really mean it.
I want to find that escape that a camera used to give me.

A huge part of why I was reluctant before to snap photos
on my own time was the hassle of bringing out my dslr...
and the fear of what if something happens to it...
I need it for the weddings already booked...

but now that I have my new phone
(which is a Note 2 and I love it even if it is only 8 mp)
(and I am totally not being sponsored to say that, hahaha)
and a 32 gig sd card
I am ready to try this again.
I am not going to overthink it.
I am just going to use my phone and various camera apps
to make sure I find a moment in my day to
take at least one photo to capture
#ThisLife
my life....my moments...my family...my world.

you can check out my facebook page or flickr page or instagram to see more, if you want...
here's hoping i can keep the momentum up!
:)




looking back, thinking ahead...


i have started a book called life makeovers....

it has been on my bookshelf for the past 4 or 5 years.
but i picked it up the other day
and thought that this
might be the time to do it...to follow the prompts,
to see where they take me...

one of the first exercises is to
think over the past year...
and list your accomplishments
and acheivements...the second part of that
is to share it with someone...
so...
i am sharing it
with you...

{and i am hoping that this book will
help me fine tune my mondo-beyondo-grande
list...which is still coming...it's just formulating
right now...}

in the past year, what have i achieved or accomplished?
~parenting a 9 year old and a 13 year old
~succeeded at another year of marriage...
~dealt with 13 having her first boyfriend without hysterics
~bathroom reno
~left one job to start another
~challenged my driving skills by driving 45 min back and forth
to work in WINTER by myself!!
~had my first ever 1 person gallery show
~had my photos shown in a collection in a gallery
~photographed my first weddings and family shoots
~created my own website including a domain name
~purchased my own computer and hooked it up
all by myself!!
~survived a blown tire while driving with no panic
~sold a painting on Etsy
~created an Etsy shop
~had two articles written about me in local papers
~got recognized at McDonalds and asked for autograph :O)
~was asked to go to dominican to shoot a wedding
~signed up for a creative writing workshop
~got a freelance job photographing festivals
~started experimenting with slow cooker
~was asked to collaborate with a blogger i adore on a
photo idea
~wrote a number of test for new job and passed them
~have made time for reading again and am on 17th book
~started doing yoga again
~taught myself how to use lightroom

it was interesting to do this...to put it in print...
this is what i have done...this is how far i have come...
this is in one year...wow.
and to help me decide where i want to go...

the second part to this is to list 3 ways
i have grown over the year...
and i would have to say
creatively...
confidence in myself/belief in my abilities
comfort in letting more people see the real me...
{heh. funny tho...it's the me you guys have seen
all along...}

getting ready...




my first "showing" of any kind
happens the first of april...
i'm getting a little nervous.

i went to see the space on saturday...
it is small and homey
and i like it.
there is currently an art exhibit there,
a collaboration of paintings by two women...
and next...is me.

i still find it hard to wrap my head around that.

i chose to call my collection
"in her 38th year"
as it is what it is...a collection
of images i have taken in my 38th year...
my first year of taking that real step...
of taking myself seriously.