This is SO me...

Just thought I'd stop and share a snapshot of sorts about what is currently running through this brain of mine, because it's just so typical... ME!

Short-term projects I'm currently mulling over, planning in my head & in various stages of tackling over the next month or so...

• Kitchen overhaul... WAY WAY overdue. Finally going to at least start with some cosmetic stuff. We have a table we bought several months ago that I won't use until I've made some improvements. First up will probably be painting the cabinets & walls, doing something with the backsplash and soon after, the countertops. Jacques & the kids are heading out of state toward the end of the month for almost a week to help enable this process....
• Home office/scraproom redo... I just hauled my ginormous table outside this weekend to use in the yard sale and it's not coming back in, plus I got rid of a little bit of the stuff I'd been storing. Now in the process of coming up with lots of interesting ideas to really transform this into a space I really love. This week I plan to scout the local secondhand stores for some cabinet/furniture possibilities and I've been collecting interesting & pretty containers for a few months now. Will be sharing more in the process via the Log Your Memory blog...
• Re-organizing (and in some cases just simply organizing) my photos, scrapbooks and general scrapping process via the Finding Photo Freedom class by Stacy Julian, currently underway.

Biz development...

• Continually maintaining, tweaking & otherwise working on Log Your Memory, including getting serious about the 2012 Memory Logbook plus another book that's been in the cooker for over a year now.
• Developing a new sister site to Log Your Memory ... more on that to come ;)
• Developing another biz idea that I've been mulling over for quite a while now in one form or another. It's starting to take shape in my brain finally to the point where I purchased a domain name for it this morning. More on that to come also... ;)
• Noticing an interest from others in yet another area related to scrapbooking, so adding that to my stuff-to-think-about mind bank.
• Participating in the Art of Action six-week online course via Tara Gentile that I'm currently enrolled in and contemplating membership in Kitchen Table Companies and/or Foolish University.

Health & wellness...

• Continually reading every self development, biz and wellness book I can get my hands on that fits with my current interests & mindset... right now, that means I'm simultaneously reading Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action and The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play. Waiting in the wings: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. (affiliate links)
• Pushing myself to stick with the programs I started over eight weeks ago - Couch to 10K, a weekly yoga session, and Weightwatchers Online.

Ode to My iPod

Everyone over the age of 10 in my household has had an iPod of their own for years ...

Everyone except me, that is.

I put it on my Christmas wish list several times, hinted at Mother's Day and flat-out asked for one on one occasion, to no avail. I think the response I got was something along the lines of ...

"What would YOU do with an iPod?"

So this year I got smart... I did NOT ask for an iPod for Christmas. Instead, I did a little research on exactly what I wanted and just went out and bought myself one soon after the holidays ... the top-of-the-line, best and newest at the time iPod Touch!!

Since then, I have done all kinds of magical things with my now-favorite toy ... things that I've had good intentions of doing for a very long time but simply had not because I hadn't found the right combination of time, tools and motivation that worked for me... until now.

 So here's my answer to that "What would YOU do with an iPod?" question at this point in this 40-something-year-old, stay-at-home, not particularly "hip" mom's life...

1. Keep a daily gratitude journal via the Gratitude Rock app where every evening right before I go to sleep, I jot down a minimum of three things I'm thankful for at this stage in my life. Very, VERY helpful in the effort to appreciate the good stuff and maintain a positive attitude!
2. Make better use of waiting room and otherwise wasted time by reading a few paragraphs of whatever is currently on my Kindle via the mobile app on my iPod. The best part... my Kindle knows where I left off with the iPod when I open that same book later on at bedtime.
3. Jot down my constant stream of biz & other ideas via my Evernote and QuikCards apps, both of which I can then sync to my iMac versions at home so everything is up-to-date no matter where I am or which tool I am using!
4. Quickly check the temperature and week-long forecast in Lewistown, as well as the cities where my parents and in-laws live.
5. Check my calendar, which allows me to schedule appointments on the spot and look at our family plans months in advance... also synced to my iMac.
6. Keep up to date with my Twitter and Facebook streams.
7. Play week-long rounds of Scrabble and/or chat with my online buddy (hey Jen!) clear across the country while simultaneously doing the dishes, cleaning my office, folding laundry or whatever else is on my plate at the moment.
8. Manage and/or check in on my Log Your Memory blog and forum from wherever I happen to be at all times of the day.
9. Check out the latest pins on Pinterest and re-pin to my board anything that captures my interest.
10. Play around with different ways I could re-arrange/re-design my office space via the Mark On Call app (where was THIS when I was a kid?????)
11. Warm up (or distract) my brain with the Sudoku, iReverse (just like Othello!), Yahtzee and Shanghai (Mahjong) apps (eh, games).
12. Indulge my urge to shop, even in the middle of nowhereville, via the App Store, Amazon app and iTunes.
13. Capture my kids antics, crazy family life, multiple music performances and all kinds of other great stuff in all formats, from audio snippets to photos to video.
14. Automatically, with literally NO DAILY EFFORT WHATSOEVER on my part, aggregate all kinds of cool memories & daily observations in one easy place, including photos and my Twitter & Facebook comments, via the Momento (genius!!) app, which I can then back-up to my iMac and use in all sorts of fun memory-keeping projects.
15. Watch movies in the bathtub, thanks to the Netflix app and the subscription we already use as a family via our Wii.
16. Search for, look up or check out whatever I want to online via the Google and Safari apps.
17. Time and/or remind myself to do anything and everything, from how long Kody plays Madden Football on the Wii to reminding myself to take the tater tots out of the oven to making sure I don't forget to jump online for a group call in the latest class I'm taking.
18. Track my crazy moodswings via the MyMood app... if I'm in the mood, that is! ;)
19. Keep a log of every book I've read, including start and end dates, and any notes I want to take along the way via the iReadItNow app.
20. Explore various types of music based on a few artists I already know I like (ie. The Beatles) in my attempts to figure out just what I DO like to listen to these days (which I seem to have lost over the years), thanks to the Pandora app.
21. And last, but definitely not least... in fact, my absolute number one reason my iPod Touch is my favorite and most personally influential tool right now ... get up at 6 a.m. nearly every weekday for the past 8+ weeks to run/walk a total of 130 miles so far in my efforts to become the healthier me that I've pretty much always wanted to be. How does the iPod help me do this? A combination of the Couch to 10K app (go from couch to 10K ready in 13 weeks!), the LogYourRun app (helps me track & measure all those miles), the amazingly entertaining, inspiring (and thankfully distracting) podcasts from the gang at Paperclipping (both the Roundtable and Digi Shows) and the very convenient Weight Watchers app which has helped me get my eating habits back on track while losing 13 pounds so far in the process! I can't even begin to tell you the difference this has already made in my general well-being and attitude toward life, but I can tell you that there is no way I would have gotten to where I am right now WITHOUT my iPod Touch. It gets me out of bed, prompts my next move, reminds me of how far I've already come and entertains me along the way. It just works for me.

So... what would I do with an iPod, you ask?

Careful kiddos... if it comes down to it, I might just sell one of YOU to replace it if it ever konks out or disappears on me!! ;)

Photo-A-Day: March 2010

That time again...  at this point, I'm just going to be happy I've kept up with the photos so far this year and not worry about writing! LOL

Photo-A-Day: February 2010

My goodness... where does the time go?

Scrapping Again... Finally!

It took the challenges at my own Web site to get me scrapping again.  While I love Log Your Memory & spend the bulk of my time immersed in the scrapping world, I haven't actually felt like scrapping since I started the biz in October - until this week, that is.

I launched the Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge on February 1st and have had fun playing along with our members. Here are the pages I've put together so far for the challenges, each based on a different type of journaling.

Challenge #1: Lists

 

Challenge #2: ABCs

Challenge #3: Conversation

Challenge #4: Fairy Tales

And then just because I felt like it, I also did this one about Danica. 

Can you believe she is 19 months old already? Does not seem possible. Of course,  Skylar has "decided" that she is already 4, even though her birthday isn't for a couple more months. She decides a lot of things these days - she's quite the stubborn one!

We're looking forward to a little 3-day ski trip to Red Lodge next weekend, the first time in a couple years we've been able to go. Nana & Pop, plus Dick & Rachel's family, will be there as well. Kody's  been asking to go skiing for weeks and is already very excited for next weekend - it's going to be a long week!

As for me, I have a ton of new projects in the works for my business and not enough time (or energy) to concentrate on them all. If only I didn't need sleep... LOL. Speaking of which, I'd better head for bed. Night! :)

January: One Photo a Day

I've started a "photo-a-day" project for 2010 in which I choose one photo each day to represent life at the given moment. I'm putting together an album, but thought I'd also do a round-up of each month's photos at the end of the month.

Here's a peek at January 2010 ... one photo at a time. (Click on the image for a closer look.) The photos go in order of the days of the month...

Join Me For Some Sweet Talking!

We’re kicking off a month-long challenge at my favorite site today … the Sweet Talk Journaling Challenge at Log Your Memory!

I hope you’ll come on over and check it out today … there will be an entire month of scrapbooking challenges with a focus on “real life” journaling, plus the chance to earn points and prizes along the way! And if you’ve never visited before, you’re in for a treat! We have a wonderful group of friendly, helpful scrapbookers just waiting to say hello and show you around!

Get started by visiting the Log Your Memory Blog HERE and get ready to journal your way to becoming a Log Your Memory Sweet Talker!

(And tell the rest of the gang that Kristin sent you!)