Weekly Intention: Monday and Tuesday this week I will work from home. Maybe because of that or maybe just in general, the rest of the week looks reasonably tough. So my intention this week is to make sure I can come up with a good plan to make it through this week with grace. I will make sure I have my morning time each day and if I can carve even a little time for journaling next week, I think that would be really nice.
This month’s intention is: Mentally Strong: Time to learn some new things. How can you grow intellectually? What classes do you want to take? What do you want to teach the kids? Oh this one is interesting. I am actually deciding not to do this. Instead I will focus on some personal goals. I will teach kids stuff, and that’s definitely one of the intentions. Nathaniel and I will work on math and writing together. David and I will work on Physics and Computer Science. For me, though, I am focusing on three things: health (exercise+food+meditation), art (drawing and watercolors even though I’ve done nothing here), and stories (journaling and simple scrapbooking.) That’s my focus for July. I did poorly on the art last week, I’d love to spend a bit more time on it this week. Let’s see.
One way I will stretch this week: We signed up for a family kayak adventure during the meteor shower this weekend and none of us know how to kayak so that will be a stretch.
One boundary I will set this week: i will continue not to bring work home at nights. That break has been really good for me.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my husband.
One new thing I will learn this week: i think i will buckle down and sign up for an art class, i don’t seem to be doing it otherwise.
One area where I will go deeper this week: journaling still is my goal :/. also maybe figuring out a night routine, there aren’t too many things: clean my face, floss, etc but i just can’t ever seem to get it into a rhythm.
What do I need to sit with this week? how i’m feeling about work, life and myself. my contributions to the world in general.
I am looking forward to: working from home a bit. it will be a nice change of pace.
This week’s challenges: wednesday will be a bit challenging with some extra driving thrown in there for me.
Top Goals:
- Work: the onboarding doc v2, thoughts on metrics, accessibility work, double down on the offsite
- Personal: couch 2 5K, exercise, good nutrition, meditate, journal, find and start art class, scrap
- 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: i will focus on meditation this week.
- Learn: i am planning to do this OLW homework next week which will be learning focused. i’ll share more when i have it.
- Peace: peace with the way things are at work, and the way people are
- Service: to myself figuring out next phase of my work still seems like the right one for now
- Gratitude: for my amazing and kind husband
This week, I want to remember: that life ebbs and flows and specific events don’t mean as much as i worry they do.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
How I got Stronger this week: I continued with my work around exercise and nutrition this week and I was very consistent with the kids. It helped that my meetings only went until 3pm most days so I could get home a bit earlier than usual. I tried harder, I also took some risks and I am not sure yet whether they paid off, I’m still working on choosing whom to please better and believing in abundance. But I keep showing up. And I keep going. I always keep going. I’ve been working hard on all of my word and mottos this year. I keep showing up. All. the. time.
Top Goals Review: the onboarding doc v1 done, initial thoughts on metrics and accessibility not done, schedule the meetings on my todo is semi-done. i did couch 2 5K, and body pump and HIIT and ate well, and meditated, and journaled so little it doesn’t count, i didn’t do any art but i did scrap!
I celebrate: i celebrate having slightly shorter days every day this week.
I am grateful for: i had a lovely breakfast with my friend Leslie at work this week and it was really nice.
Karen’s Points: I did couch 2 5K all 3 days this week, I also did 3 Body Pump classes and one HIIT class. I am still caffeine, sugar and grain and dairy free (though I ate 5 jelly beans). I drink soy decaf cappuccinos still. Still a bit too high on nuts and fruit but overall I’d say I’m pretty solid here. I’ve noticed that the morning routine is no problem but the evening routine is still super tough and i haven’t had the chance to sit with it yet.
A Change I embraced: a lot of change around me at the moment, i am trying to sit with it all.
I let go of: Controlling a few situations at work this week. I am learning to sit back.
Core Desired Feelings Check-in:
- Fresh: Nathaniel and I are doing a new online course.
- Magical: Getting to scrap our holiday was very magical
- Lighter: a bit lighter this week, it really helped to drive home one hour earlier.
- True: truth is i am all over the place with how i feel and i really wish i could do better with the journaling.
Where I chose Joy: nathaniel and i had a math marathon on thursday that was really joyful for me.
I showed up for: my kids. and for myself this week.
A Mistake I made this week: i think i am pushing a few boundaries at work and i am too worried about it all, so I am trying to make sure i don’t spin when the situation is unclear.
What I tolerated this week: still too tired and just some annoying communication breakages.
My mood this week was: slow.
I forgive myself for: not being able to break out of my old tapes.
What I love right now: the few weeks of summer we have left because i really love my morning routine at the moment even though it’s hard, it’s also so peaceful.
Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
And the last layout from our holiday. This one is all Barcelona.
The left page is bits from walking everywhere, seeing all the graffiti and riding the subway and going to the labyrinth.
and the right side is all Gaudi! And here we go.
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
And okay array of books this week.
Can’t Help Myself was different, interesting and enjoyable for me.
My friend Evelyn’s new book, Circle of Shadows, is not out yet but I got to read a proof and it was awesome. She’s such a talented writer.
And Ocean of Minutes was interesting premise-wide but I can’t say I absolutely loved it.
The Widower’s notebook was wonderful for me. It was sad but also wonderful.
What We were Promised was an interesting read and I really liked parts of it. It had sort of a twist/secret that I didn’t guess at all and didn’t bother me. But overall I can’t say I love love loved it either.
The Suicide Club was also okay. Another one with an interesting premise but I wasn’t super crazy about the novel itself.
Not as good a week as last week.
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
A few weeks ago I decided I missed scrapbooking. Not the 12×12 layouts or even the ever involved pages but more the playing with some product and telling our stories part. So I looked at the upcoming Ali’s Story Kit themes and decided the next six were perfect for me. So I finally subscribed.
The first one was adventure, which was a perfect way to document our recent trip all over Europe, so that’s exactly what I did. I didn’t have an album either, so I bought one of her December Daily albums from last year because they are super thick and come with a lot of pages which is exactly what I wanted.
I love the way this turned out and I only used a few letters, dots, and some washi outside of the kit. This is 30 pages and all of it came from the kit. It was an absolutely perfect fit.
Super grateful for this and hoping next month is just as awesome.
On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
After our day and a half in Rome, we rented a car and drove north to this little town called Forte dei Marmi where we met up with my family to celebrate my dad’s 75th birthday.
My amazing sister had done an incredible amount of work to make the day special for my dad. We call him opapa so she made custom shirts so we all had shirts that said who we were in relation to my dad.
and then the back said 75th birthday.
the three of us.
my mom and dad with all the grandkids.
she had setup games for us to play on the beach.
there was much laughing
and joy
my parents were super game to play along.
afterwards she got us all white shirts and a whole bunch of props to take photos with.
and everyone was happy to play along.
here’s my special sister and her amazing family.
without whom none of this would be possible. She also got custom towels made, custom chocolates, hazelnuts and many other small and big touches. It was a wonderful few days with the people who are most special in my life.
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: This week has a lot of meetings too but my intention this week is to leave space in my schedule so I can work or breathe, Ideally both. My goal this week is to move some of the work I am working on forward. Clarify other things. And then really be present at home. I did a good job last week of disconnecting when I get home and I want to do more of that. I’d like to also spend some time focusing on journaling and more meditation where possible. And maybe spend a bit of time on the things I usually would do as part of my evening routine and see if I can find new homes for them in my day.
This month’s intention is: Mentally Strong: Time to learn some new things. How can you grow intellectually? What classes do you want to take? What do you want to teach the kids? Oh this one is interesting. I am actually deciding not to do this. Instead I will focus on some personal goals. I will teach kids stuff, and that’s definitely one of the intentions. Nathaniel and I will work on math and writing together. David and I will work on Physics and Computer Science. For me, though, I am focusing on three things: health (exercise+food+meditation), art (drawing and watercolors), and stories (journaling and simple scrapbooking.) That’s my focus for July. I did poorly on the art last week, I’d love to spend a bit more time on it this week. Let’s see.
One way I will stretch this week: I’m going to be doing some new work, we’ll see how it works out.
One boundary I will set this week: i will make sure home-time is my time this week, too. at least in the evenings.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my husband.
One new thing I will learn this week: still more meditation and getting back into scrapping.
One area where I will go deeper this week: journaling since i didn’t last week either :/.
What do I need to sit with this week? how to make my schedule friendly to getting work done
I am looking forward to: some time getting new work done and a little less insane week.
This week’s challenges: just juggling work and meetings. also i will still be sore :/
Top Goals:
- Work: the onboarding doc v1, initial thoughts on metrics and accessibility, schedule the meetings on my todo
- Personal: couch 2 5K, exercise, good nutrition, meditate, journal, do art, scrap
- Family: cook for jake, math and physics with david and math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel
I will focus on my values:
- Love: love for my mom every day
- Learn: how do draw + remember how to scrap
- Peace: peace with the soreness, it’s a sign of progress
- Service: to myself figuring out next phase of my work
- Gratitude: for living in beautiful California.
This week, I want to remember: that i can do anything i set my mind to.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
How I got Stronger this week: This week was really tough. I worked out a lot and pretty consistently even though I didn’t fully sleep through the night any night this week. I had a lot of meetings, and got a lot of work done. I also saw a friend from high school and spent time with my kids working. Made dinner each night. I feel like I worked at being the strongest version of myself along several verticals this week.
Top Goals Review: i had my talk at work, I did couch 2 5K and exercised ate well, meditated, didn’t journal enough and didn’t do enough art. I cooked for jake, did math and physics with david and did math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel. Pretty solid.
I celebrate: I celebrate making it to the end of this week. I am sore all over.
I am grateful for: having some work to do now that I am excited to do.
Karen’s Points: I did couch 2 5K all 3 days this week, I also did 4 Body Pump classes and one HIIT class. IT was a lot, I am sore all over. I meditated 3 days, I am still caffeine, sugar and grain and dairy free. I drink soy decaf cappuccinos now because I drank milk last week and had a reaction. Still a bit too high on nuts and fruit but overall I’d say I’m pretty solid here. I’ve noticed that the morning routine is no problem but the evening routine doesn’t exist for me so I need to incorporate those things into my day better.
A Change I embraced: mostly having a really crazy week this week.
I let go of: doing any actual work this week, i worked over the weekend instead.
Core Desired Feelings Check-in:
- Fresh: I have a few fresh new projects I am excited about.
- Magical: I saw my highschool friend Ebru and her family on Friday and that was awesome.
- Lighter: not so light this week. though the meditation is helping.
- True: truth is i am frustrated with having to build up my strength so slowly. but it’s the only way.
Where I chose Joy: the meetings, while a lot of them, have actually been joyful.
I showed up for: my friend. my husband. and at work this week.
A Mistake I made this week: i put too many meetings on cal this week. i won’t do that again.
What I tolerated this week: a lot of soreness, tiredness, i need to see how i can make it better.
My mood this week was: tired.
I forgive myself for: how long this whole thing takes.
What I love right now: my family. i love love love them so much.
Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
This week is full of leftover photos since we were in Europe this week and I had so many leftover ones from the previous weeks.
Some are still from Boston and from our flight.
and others are from work and our adventures around home.
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I thought I hadn’t read all that much this week but it turns out i read a decent amount.
Mr. Right-Swipe was terrible. i didn’t like the characters or the plot or really anything about it. I was worried that it’s that i am too old or that I don’t like romance but then I read The Kiss Quotient which was wonderful. I loved it. So there are lovely romance books out there.
Tell the Machine Goodnight was wonderful. I really enjoyed reading it and that even though it was scifi, it was also so real and interesting. I loved the characters and the story.
The Last Time I Lied was meh. I am so done with mystery I think.
Clock Dance was wonderful because i love Anne Tyler. Is it the best one of hers? No but i don’t care. I love her.
Left was a quick read but i loved it too.
The Summer List was meh. I have read too many like this I think so it wasn’t all that great for me.
Here we go. A good week overall.
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I figured I will share some photos from our trip, little bits at a time but these will still be photo-heavy.
Our airbnb in Rome was lovely.
not huge but clean and nice.
and right in the middle of rome.
we had only one day there so we had to see everything in one day.
i walked them to fontana di trevi first.
and then we walked slowly on the way to the Colosseum and saw things along the way.
This tower was super-meaningful to David cause he knew all about it. Trajan’s Column.
they all loved the ancient ruins everywhere in rome.
and all the mentions of SPQR.
And finally we were there.
We then went to the Pantheon.
which was magnificent.
and the Spanish Steps.
we took more than 30,000 steps in one day while in Rome. We saw so much. We went to Trastevere at night, too.
But we didn’t get to see Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel. That will have to be saved for next time. Rome was everyone’s favorite so I imagine we will go back.
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: This week is going to be a tough week with a lot of back to back meetings. I have 53 meetings on my calendar for the week at the moment. Plus I run 3 times a week and exercise all 5 days. I am trying to cook dinner each night and spend time with one kid alternating each evening. That doesn’t leave for a lot of extra room in my life this week. So my intentions this week will be more about how I show up. I want to be listening a lot this week. Pay attention to what’s working and what’s not. Pay attention to where I can be of service. Let others speak and listen. That’s my intention this week.
This month’s intention is: Mentally Strong: Time to learn some new things. How can you grow intellectually? What classes do you want to take? What do you want to teach the kids? Oh this one is interesting. I am actually deciding not to do this. Instead I will focus on some personal goals. I will teach kids stuff, and that’s definitely one of the intentions. Nathaniel and I will work on math and writing together. David and I will work on Physics and Computer Science. For me, though, I am focusing on three things: health (exercise+food+meditation), art (drawing and watercolors), and stories (journaling and simple scrapbooking.) That’s my focus for July. I did poorly on the art last week, I’d love to spend a bit more time on it this week. Let’s see.
One way I will stretch this week: I’m going to attempt to have a conversation with my manager. let’s see.
One boundary I will set this week: i will make sure home-time is my time this week and try hard not to do work then.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: i am going to see if i can get some of my questions/worries answered.
One new thing I will learn this week: i’m going to try to spend a bit more time meditating than i did last week.
One area where I will go deeper this week: journaling since i didn’t last week.
What do I need to sit with this week? how to think about my exercise and food routine longer term.
I am looking forward to: my 1-1’s this week. learning more, listening more.
This week’s challenges: just a lot of meetings, my bet is also more soreness and tiredness.
Top Goals:
- Work: have a talk.
- Personal: couch 2 5K, exercise, good nutrition, meditate, journal, do art
- Family: cook for jake, math and physics with david and math, vocab and comp sci with Nathaniel
I will focus on my values:
- Love: love for myself. how can i be kinder? give myself grace.
- Learn: how do draw
- Peace: peace with the discipline the nutrition and exercise requires and faith that it will all help
- Service: to my husband by feeding him well when i can.
- Gratitude: for the gym at work and for healthy food at work.
This week, I want to remember:that things are always worse in my head.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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