Twenty Eighteen Yearly

Stories from 2018 – 34 – Marseilles and Montpellier

After we left Aix, we drove down to Marseilles which was another seaside town. Marseilles is a fishing town and it’s so very beautiful.

I loved all the streets.

and the incredible churches.

isn’t it magnificent?

i love all the detail.

i made the whole family walk to this museum in the super hot weather just so i could get these shots.

this made me think of home.

so many many of the streets had a lot of graffiti.

and a lot of old doors.

I took around 600 photos just in Marseilles.
and snapped this on the way out of town.

We then drove to Montpellier where our AirBnB was down this amazing, amazing street.

And the house was amazing too. It was big and fun and we ended up taking the whole day to relax.

the kids played all day while I read and Jake went climbing.

On the way out of town we passed by Carcassonne and had to capture this shot since it’s one of our favorite Board Games 🙂

Next up is Barcelona, the last leg of our wonderful journey.

Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.

Stronger Than Before – 34

Weekly Intention: This week looks like it’s going to be a long week. I had hoped I could take a vacation day this week since it’s the last week before school starts but it looks like it won’t be possible as I have a slew of meetings all week. But the boys will come visit me on Tuesday and I am excited for that and I will do the best I can to come home early and be engaged. I did make some plans for the transition to school but we’ll see how they work out. The plan for this week is to just savor our last week of summer. To have fun and go on adventures in the evenings, even if it means I don’t get my personal todos done.

This month’s intention is: Shine Strong: This month is for showing up. Show up at work. Show up with the kids. Show up as we close out the summer and start a new school year. Let your light shine on everyone you meet this month. I love this one. I am going to do this. Take it all up a notch and I will add one more: show up for myself, too.

One way I will stretch this week: It looks like work is about to kick up a few notches so I am going to try really hard not to mess things up and I am also going to be running quite a lot this week so that will stretch me.

One boundary I will set this week: i am going to do my best to try and stay grounded and assume all will be okay.

This week, I will focus on pleasing: a few projects at work.

One new thing I will learn this week: i did the sketching work last week so maybe this week i can focus on the next video in my painting class.

One area where I will go deeper this week: a few things at work, I think.

What do I need to sit with this week? my anxiety around the next few weeks, i want to enjoy my days.

I am looking forward to: enjoying our last week.

This week’s challenges: just making sure requirements and todos are clear for some of the things that need to come together at work

Top Goals:

Work: make a deck for metrics, plan december more, allyship send, flesh out sept offsite, start on oct offsite. think about other areas
Personal: couch 2 5K, body pump, hiit, good nutrition, meditate, journal, art+scrap, stretch, evening routine
Family: cook for jake, math, comp sci and physics with david and math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel, fun time!!

I will focus on my values:

Love: love for my family a lot this week. as much as i can.
Learn: didn’t do OLW still and some catch up on my weekly book too
Peace: peace with the chaos at work.
Service: to the changes coming up.
Gratitude: for my family.

This week, I want to remember: that it’s all going to be okay. I will not let everyone down.

Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Weekly Reflection 2018 – 33

How I got Stronger this week: This was a good week. I continued to do strength exercises and to run. I also meditated and journaled and continued with my evening and morning routines. I worked with the kids. I worked on the art and when the work days were long and I couldn’t, I gave myself grace. I also did a few things that were on my list but I hadn’t gotten around to doing.

Top Goals Review:

Work: cleaned up the onboarding doc, fleshed out thoughts on metrics and accessibility work and the offsite, and started planning december but very briefly
Personal: couch 2 5K, body pump, hiit, good nutrition, meditate, journal, art, stretch, and evening routine were all done!
Family: cooked for jake, math, did comp sci and physics with david and math, did vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel

I celebrate: i celebrate finally putting our photos on the wall.

I am grateful for: a new workmate who is kind and thoughtful. grateful he’s part of our team!

Karen’s Points: I did couch 2 5K all 3 days this week, I also did 3 Body Pump classes and two HIIT classes. I am still caffeine, sugar and grain and dairy free (though i ate granola twice with my bare bowl and ate yogurt with bit granola at work twice this week). I journaled and meditated 3 of the days. I continued the evening routine . Did the roller a bit but didn’t stretch too much imho.

A Change I embraced: my schedule was a bit off this week but I adjusted.

I let go of: having to be invited to all the meetings. it’s ok.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

Fresh: the kayaking was crazy fun and fresh and adventurous.
Magical: my life is all feeling magical at the moment.
Lighter: the journaling is really helping here.
True: i am really looking forward to some scrapping this week.

Where I chose Joy: i hung our family photos on the wall and it’s making me joyous beyond words.

I showed up for: our new colleague this week.

A Mistake I made this week: does anxiety count? I was anxious way more than necessary.

What I tolerated this week: longer days.

My mood this week was: centered.

I forgive myself for: not adhering to the rules 100% , i am trying quite hard most days.

What I love right now: the simplicity of my life. i know it’s all about to change so i am extra grateful.

Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Moments from this Week – 33

here’s the second layout from forte dei marmi.

i love all the action they have in them.

and seeing all my family together too!

Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Books I Read This Week 2018 – 33

This was the week of super long reads. With the exception of one, all the books I read where 13+ hours of audio.

Spinning Silver was an amazing read!! I resisted reading it, I even hated the cover. It’s rare that I will pick up a fantasy but I love love loved this book.

I checked out A Conjuring of Light from the library like eight times. I read and liked the other two books and this one was no exception. I really enjoyed this series.

A Gentleman in Moscow was another one that I checked out a bazillion times so I am glad I finally managed to finish it. In the end I am not sure it was my cup of tea. It was funny and sweet and interesting at bits but not amazing enough to be worthwhile the time investment for me.

The Three Questions was meh. I need to read it again I think to really sit with it.

I am almost done with The Death of Mrs. Westaway and I am glad I read it. I don’t think I’ve gotten to the big twist yet since I know Ruth Ware likes them and she’s woven a windy tale. But I have about an hour left so it’s coming soon.

Not sure what I’ll tackle next, let’s see.

Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

On My Mind – 33 – Morning Routine and Evening Routine

I wanted to capture this before everything changes again in a few weeks because school will start. I am really loving all the morning time I get right now and I am making the time to do all the things I want to do in my life and I feel really wonderful about that. So I want to make sure to note it all and as we move into September and school and things change, I can see which bits I can incorporate back in.

Right now here’s what happens:

6am – I wake up
6:15 – I am out the door to work
6:30 – arrive at work and M, W, F, I do Couch 2 5K so I run on the treadmill for around 30 mins.
7am – I have an hour off, I meditate for 10 mins, journal for 20 mins, talk to my mom for 5-10 mins, and depending on the day I also might eat breakfast.
8am – I do Body Pump M, T, W, F and HIIT class on Thursdays (my class on Monday is 7am so i shift everything up to accommodate it.)
9am – I shower and go to my building at work
5pm – I come home and work with the kids, M, W, F is David, T, Th, Sa Nathaniel
6pm – I do art
7pm – I cook dinner and spend time with Jake
8pm – Done for the day, I start night routine, wash face, floss, brush teeth, and do vipata karani (if i didn’t get to meditate, i usually do so when I am doing this pose.) I plan to add stretching and rolling for 5 mins each and 1 minute of plank which will hopefully eventually grow to 3 and then 5 mins 🙂 all this takes 15-20 mins total.
8:30pm – in bed with a book
10pm – lights out

There are exceptions of course and some days I work much later, some days I come home and work more, some days i have meetings that start earlier, some days i have obligations with the kids, etc. But this is all my normal days and I do all the things I want to do. I am super grateful for this routine at the moment.

Once school starts, my 6-9:30 slot will be broken up, I plan to wake up at 6 and so all the stuff i usually do at work, at home. 6-6:30 run, 6:30-7 meditate, journal. 7:15 leave to take kids to bus, 7:35, drive to work in time for the 8am class. So we’ll see how likely that is to work but we will give it a try. And if it doesn’t, I’ll adjust. I can wake up at 5:30 and I’d rather do that and get my alone time than dig into that time. So we’ll see…

On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Stories from 2018 – 33 – Cannes and Aix-en-Provence

On the way back from St. Tropez, we decided to stop at Cannes. I had read that it was not as interesting and it was getting darker but we went anyway.

We were so glad we did. In fact, it turned out to be Jake’s favorite part of the trip.

we walked around the beautiful beach.

and I snapped a million photos.

we saw a ferris wheel and decided we had to get on!

it was fantastic, right at sunset.

it was very beautiful in Cannes.

we didn’t do shopping but still went to the main street.

but the beach was so much better.

The next morning, we were on our way to Montpellier so we stopped by Aix-en-Provence, which I loved.

This city is so very beautiful and old and lovely.

Full of fountains.

and these stunning buildings.

I just loved the feel of the whole city. It was so delightful and warm.

And of course I took photos of all the windows.

this is one of my favorites.

isn’t it magnificent.

we then moved on to Marseilles but I love love loved Aix and here’s to being able to go back one day!

Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.

Stronger Than Before – 33

Weekly Intention: This week looks like a reasonably average week. Lots of meetings but not a debilitating amount. I might get some home time which will be nice and I don’t think I will be home super late any night. I might experiment with a few schedule variations this week, too, so, we’ll see. My intention this week is two fold: stay really focused on what matters to me and start making some plans for the transition to school. Changes in routine are always hard on me and we have a big one coming with going back to school and managing drop off and pick up again as well as a slew of stuff that happens at the start of the school year. So I’d like to both mentally but also practically get prepared for that. Also I’d really like to double down on the journaling with strong focus on healing.

One way I will stretch this week: It looks like I will be doing two HIIT classes this week, it’s going to kick my butt.

One boundary I will set this week: I will keep laser focused on the things that matter to me, coming back to my values again and again.

This week, I will focus on pleasing: me but also i will be kindest to everyone along the way.

One new thing I will learn this week: i signed up for another sketching class, so I will do the work for it this weekend.

One area where I will go deeper this week: figuring out a transition plan for september

What do I need to sit with this week? how i am feeling and what i am still holding on to, i want to work on that.

I am looking forward to: a little extra time with my amazing hubby.

This week’s challenges: nothing too specific this week so i will focus on really sticking to my routine

Top Goals:

Work: clean up the onboarding doc, flesh out thoughts on metrics and accessibility work and the offsite, make notes on what else. start planning december.
Personal: couch 2 5K, body pump, hiit, good nutrition, meditate, journal, art+scrap, stretch, evening routine
Family: cook for jake, math, comp sci and physics with david and math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel

I will focus on my values:

Love: time for some serious journaling here this week
Learn: i didn’t do the OLW homework but did do the learning. this week i will do that and learn to sketch.
Peace: peace with the changing of seasons and all that comes with that.
Service: to my boys, my hubby, work, friends and me this week, let’s make plans!
Gratitude: for people who support me.

This week, I want to remember: that I have so much kindness around me and I need to learn to absorb it better.

Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Weekly Reflection 2018 – 32

How I got Stronger this week: I did a lot of work on being stronger this week. I consistently worked on my exercise and strengthening my physical body. I also worked on my mental state by meditating most of the days. I established an evening routine to ground myself and do some of the small things I wanted to do more/better. I strengthened my emotional state by journaling most days and then having the conversations I needed to have at work. I also strengthened my connections by working with the kids each night, talking to my mom everyday and meeting up with my friend Leslie on Friday. I also found a babysitter and will be going out on date night and scheduled an adventure for all four of us. I did art every night even when I felt bad about the results. So I am feeling good about the work I did this week.

Top Goals Review:

Work: the onboarding doc v2 is slightly done though could use another pass, started version one of thoughts on metrics, and started the accessibility work, also doubled down on the offsite – phew
Personal: did c25K three times, body pump 4 times and HIIT once, ate well and mostly slowly. I meditated four days and journaled four days. started the art class but didn’t scrap since i don’t have the kit yet.
Family: cooked for jake, did math, comp sci and physics with david and did math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel

I celebrate: i celebrate having the hard conversations.

I am grateful for: a manager i really like at work. I feel very lucky.

Karen’s Points: I did couch 2 5K all 3 days this week, I also did 4 Body Pump classes and one HIIT class. I am still caffeine, sugar and grain and dairy free (though i ate granola twice with my bare bowl, and 5 mini pretzels this week). I drink lactose-free decaf cappuccinos now. Still a bit too high on nuts and fruit but I’ve been eating more slowly and reducing my portions by paying attention to when I am full so I don’t keep eating. I journaled almost every day and meditated 4 out of the 5 work days. I did start an evening routine and wash my face and floss nightly now. So the only two things I am not doing at the moment from my original plan are the stretching and the roller which I plan to incorporate into my evening routine so I am feeling optimistic at the moment.

A Change I embraced: a little bit of churn at work.

I let go of: deciding that the churn is mine to solve. waiting now.

Core Desired Feelings Check-in:

Fresh: the art i am doing definitely feels new and raw and fresh and i am learning.
Magical: my routine feels very magical now but I know it will all change in two weeks when school starts
Lighter: much lighter now that i’ve had some hard conversations
True: truth is that the journaling really helped and I am working hard to come back to myself.

Where I chose Joy: i’ve been listening to music when i journal, music from my twenties and it’s making me very happy.

I showed up for: my friend this week.

A Mistake I made this week: i spun more out of control in my head than needed. i feel better now.

What I tolerated this week: too much stress inside my brain.

My mood this week was: relieved.

I forgive myself for: spinning things out of control a bit.

What I love right now: my routine. my life. how much i spend my days doing what i want to be doing.

Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Moments from this Week – 32

I finally processed photos from our little family trip to Forte dei Marmi so I decided to dedicate the next two pages to that.

i love these photos, and all the joy they show.

and other week to week stuff can wait for now.

Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Books I Read This Week 2018 – 32

And okay array of books this week.

Ghosted was lovely and I enjoyed it but I’ve read a lot of books like this by now so it didn’t really stand out for me.

Your Second Life Begins When You Realize You Only Have One, was trying to be a semi-clever way to hide advice and howto book into a novel style. I think if these ideas weren’t already content I knew, it would have been a more lovely book for me but as it was, it was okay but not whoa!

Dear Mrs. Bird was my favorite read of this week. I enjoyed the story and the characters and the writing. I understand that it might not be accurate as a historical novel but i still liked it.

Every Time You Go Away was eh. Not the best use of my time.

The Sparsholt Affair was my long read of the week. It was ok but I have to say that I just never really connected with it so I am not sure it was worth all the time I invested into it. I thought it would be like The Heart’s Invisible Furies but it’s not proving to be the case so far.

I don’t have a pile i’m super excited about at this point, so I’d love recommendations if you have any. Especially of books you loved and/or couldn’t put down.

Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.

Stories from 2018 – 32 – Pisa, Nice, and St. Tropez

On the way to Forte dei Marmi, we decided to stop by Pisa since it was really closeby.

It was super cool to see the building in person so I am glad we did.

We didn’t stay too long but it was totally fun

Then we went to Forte dei Marmi and spent the four days with my family. After that, we drove to the edge of Italy to SanRemo and took a train to our next destination: Nice.