Hello!! I know I am really behind in my posting of my December Daily. I’ve actually been working on it daily but not able to post because by the time I do it, it’s dark and I can’t take photos, and then I leave for work early in the morning in the dark. Today I finally got some, but they are still pretty low quality because it was almost dark. They will have to do for now.
Day 3 is about David going climbing. He’s been climbing like a fiend lately and I love love love it and it’s something I wanted to make sure to capture.
Day 4 follows on the sports theme and has both of the kids at the batting cages. Another story i love love love.
The next page is a tag I downloaded from Ali, it has Jake. I have 4 of these in the album, one for each of us.
The back has the answers to the questions Ali has on her cards.
Day 5 is the tag above and the back has a story about the Friday letters Nathaniel brings home. I wrote about these a few weeks ago. I love them so. I am grateful to get to have one in the December Daily!
Day 6’s story is about the Lit Club I teach at the kids’ school. The top card opens up.
Inside is a long photo which is stitched together with photos I took during lit club. We’re reading Inherit the Wind at the moment.
I love it.
Day 7 has two stories: one is about my journaling at work and capturing my ordinary, crazy days at work right now. The second story is about my friend Leslie and I and how we’ve been meeting weekly for a few months now and how much it means to me.
And here we are. Mostly caught up. Day 8 tomorrow when I finish the journaling 🙂
       I’d checked out Fierce Kingdom a few times this year but didn’t manage to read it before. It was finally time. I’d read the author’s previous novel as well and hadn’t realized it was the same person until I was done but afterwards I did think about how it felt similar in atmosphere to the first book even though that one takes place in a women’s jail. This was an interesting read.
I was really looking forward to The Power which sounded like a super-interesting premise but in the end I feel it dragged on and on and on. It would have been much more interesting if it were half as long. I had a hard time getting through this one.
Insight was a quick read and gave me some thoughts to ponder. I spend a lot of time reflecting so there wasn’t anything super incredibly new here but I always like books like this.
I also finally got to read The Weight of Ink which my friend had recommended months and months ago but I had never gotten around to reading. It finally became available in the library and I jumped on it and then used my long flight to Australia to listen. I loved this book. Historical fiction is not my genre and neither is Jewish history. But this was wonderful.
Long Way Down was a quick but impactful read.
Then it was time to grab All the Crooked Saints because I love love love Stiefvater. I had heard this wasn’t her best but I am going to disagree. I loved it. I love her.
I then moved to Five-Carat Soul. Short story collections aren’t really my thing but I did read and love his previous book. So I loved the first story and liked the second one okay, but then I stopped reading because really short story collections are not my thing.
On book number 272 now. Here’s to a few more awesome books, especially for the long flights ahead.
Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Mind:
- I read: A lot of books this week but nothing else. I worked and was on the road for most of the week.
- I learned: Hmm not much new this week unfortunately.
- I watched: I watched a bunch of movies on the plane: Fantastic Beasts was awesome. Table 19 was also lovely. Everything, Everything was also lovely. On the way back, I watched Kedi and it was wonderful. All great stuff this week.
Body:
- Exercise: I exercised once here on Saturday before I left and then twice in Sydney in my hotel room. None were fantastic.
- Food: Food was a poor job. On the plus side, I had no soda. On the minus side I had a LOT of coffee and ate poorly for the most part.
- Body Care: I’ve done nothing here.
Soul:
- I rested: Sleep was not good while I was in Sydney. I expect some jetlag here before things are well again.
- I connected: I got to see a lot of work friends from Seattle and Sydney. When I got back I also got to see my friend Leslie. Good week.
- I journaled: I journaled a lot on the way there but not at all there.
- I made art: December Daily baby!
- Flowers: still filling my life and home with these.
Hoping to make one last push to end the year well here.
Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Winter here is Summer in Sydney. I love going to Sydney any time of the year because it’s pretty much lovely every time. This was no exception. I usually try to go to the beaches at least once and I was lucky to get to go to Bronte on Tuesday night. Other awesome things about Sydney trip:
- Ovolo 1888 Darling Harbour hotel is awesome
- Cappuccino in Sydney is amazing
- Beaches are breathtaking
- Love the airport lounge on the way home
- Loved the food on the way there
- Love the unisex bathrooms
- Was able to keep up with email for the most part
- Journaled a lot
- Watched several movies i loved
- Read 3 books while there
So grateful to be there. So grateful to be back.
Stories from 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Weekly Intention: This week is a bit of a mish mosh. I have a class on Monday and then a summit Tuesday-Thursday. Dinner Tuesday, Work on Monday and Wednesday nights, Date night Thursday. Friday I have to go to the kids’ school for Nathaniel and then Friday night I go again for David. So a full week for sure. I think my intention this week will be focusing on three things:
- Being present wherever I am. Not multi-tasking, getting distracted or losing focus so i can really add value where I am and be really present + connect
- Taking down time each day to journal+present with my day. Part of this will be December Daily which I really would like to aim to keep up with but part of it is also finding 15 minutes to journal each day.
- And finally, though this should come first, nourishing myself much better this week. Sleep and food especially. Lots of veggies for feeling good and lots of protein for energy.
Things I want to get Done: Here’s the list for his week.
- Work: do more round 3 of 2018 planning
- Work: Bond with team mates
- Work: catch up on all email
- Work: work more on the doc for S
- Personal: exercise every week day this week
- Personal: make sure all 3 meals have a nutritious component
- Personal: do OLW
- Personal: do December Daily
- Personal: do advent of light
- Personal: make 2018 plans iteration 2 + journal
- Personal: Continue with the new scrapping/storytelling system.
- Family: take photos!
- Family: Math with D and Python with N
- Family: finish christmas shopping!!
This month’s intention is: Shine Slowly: And here it is. The end of one more year. You made it through. Tough times, joyful times. Celebrations and trials. Changes and all. You did it. Time to slow down. Time to make space for the next year. Growth comes after downtime for you. Take this time to store some energy so you can hit the ground running in 2018.
Ways to Shine this week:
- One: Bold: back to daily exercise will be bold
- Two: Open: open to being present in each moment
- Three: Heal/Nourish: back to nourishing my body and soul
I am looking forward to: our date night, eating better, all the journaling+memory keeping this month
This week’s challenges: jetlag+a pretty full week with commitments/work every night
Top Goals:
- Work: still planning 2018.
- Personal: exercise+food+journaling. december daily.
- Family: squeezing in study time in this busy week.
I will focus on my core desires (bold, mindful, nourish, love) by: focusing on each of these every day this week.
This week, I will say yes to: being really present.
This week, I will say no to: focusing on being tired or on what’s not getting done.
I am worried that: i won’t exercise. i’ll eat poorly, make bad choices, not get enough nutrition. i’ll have bad jetlag. i’ll do everything poorly. i’ll be overwhelmingly tired. something will be wrong with our car. issues with my card won’t be resolved. i won’t be able to keep up with december daily.
This week, I want to remember: that this is my favorite time of the year.
Today’s story is a simple but fun one. Nathaniel was invited to a sleepover birthday party so I decided it would be a perfect story for today. I added a photo of all the boys on top (a phone photo the mom sent me.)
And then when you open the flap, there are two more photos from the birthday inside.
That’s it for today, sweet and simple.
How I shone this week: I spent this week in Sydney, Australia. I showed up for my work by working 7am or 6:30am every day while there, doing meetings in multiple time zones. I socialized with my workmates almost every night. I also showed up for myself by exercising two of the four days I was there. I worked hard, but still setup a playdate for my son, talked to my family daily and tried to support all of them.
Things I wanted to get Done:
- Work: planning iteration 3 is underway and going well.
- Personal: exercised 3 times, once at home, twice at hotel. not perfect but tried. ate so so tbh. didn’t do round 2 of 2018 but did a lot of journaling on the plane. more on this later. scrapped.
- Family: talked to kids daily and took photos!
I celebrate: a solid trip and December is here!!
I am grateful for: having a job i love and getting to go to Sydney which i also love.
I nourished myself by: journaling.
Reflecting on my worries: I exercised too little. I ate mostly poorly. trip was worthwhile but i didn’t spend enough time with the team there. i missed my kids and i got of course not as much as i wanted done. i didn’t have terrible jetlag but mostly cause i drank a thousand coffees a day.
I let go of: spending quality time with the local engineers.
Core Desire Check-in (bold, mindful, nourish, love):
- bold: bold getting through the planning
- mindful: mindful that i am feeling really worn out and need to rest
- nourish: i would like to replace eating poorly with journaling 🙂
- love: i love being back home
What made me laugh this week: work friends
What I tolerated this week: two 15-hour flights in one week.
My mood this week was: work-focused.
I forgive myself for: missing home too much this week
What I love right now: december baby! love love love this season
Here’s to a great week 49. Let the December festivities begin!
And here we are. The most magical time of year. I got back from Sydney yesterday so my goal was to make sure I wouldn’t have any trouble jumpstarting my December Daily. This cover page below just showed up in the mail today so I haven’t added extra bits to it yet but I still love having it right there in the beginning.
I also love starting with our family photo because it’s my favorite thing we do all year. “And so it begins” has been my starting phrase for years.
I really enjoyed writing my reason why this year. this is my favorite project all year and i love love love how much it helps me appreciate the holiday season.
The next page is a 4×6 photo I took in the Sydney office. 12/1 was my last day there so it says “bye Sydney.”
The back is a photo I took in the cafe and a tag from my awesome hotel.
Then is the real page that was in the album. I wrote some journaling about my trip and added four more of my favorite photos from there.
And that’s it for the beginning. Love love love December.
And here we are. End of November. All we have now is December Daily. Here they all are:
Onward to December!
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
      
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
was next in my library queue. I wasn’t sure what it was about but wanted to read it anyway. I am glad I did. I liked it. Nothing amazing but a lovely book.
I also finally finished Full Cicada Moon which I was reading for Lit Club in my kids’ school. I love love loved this book. I cannot recommend it enough. It can be both Middle Grade and Young Adult. I loved it as an adult.
Permission to Screw Up was a quick and easy read about someone I didn’t know at all and a topic I am not usually interested in but it was still interesting and thought provoking.
I also finally got to read The Golden Compass which has been on my list for years and years. It was fantastic.
It was time for some mindfulness so Real Love was the perfect choice for that. I love Sharon Salzberg.
Celebrations was super-quick and my first Maya Angelou. I loved it.
I was dying to read Bonfire because I had heard it was a great read. I had to wait patiently until some of my other library reads were done and it was worth the wait. I read it all in one sitting and really enjoyed its fast pace.
Book number 265 now. Here’s to a few more awesome books, especially for the long flights ahead.
Books I Read this Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
Mind:
- I read: A good variety this week. Some nonfiction, a poetry, a young adult, a middle grade, and an adult fiction. Not bad.
- I learned: Hmm not much new this year unfortunately.
- I watched: We watched Atomic Blonde and it was terrible.
Body:
- Exercise: I exercised only twice this week because I was at the kids’ school on Wednesday and there was no work Thursday or Friday.
- Monday: Body Pump
- Tuesday: Body Pump
- Food: Food is still touch and go here. Not awful but far far from excellent. I did quit soda so that’s a plus.
- Body Care: I’ve done nothing amount here.
Soul:
- I rested: I am sleeping a bit better but honestly it’s not perfect.
- I connected: I got to see some good friends at school on Wednesday and having Jeff here all week was wonderful. We also has a lot of family time, of course.
- I journaled: I didn’t journal this week. I am optimistic for the flight.
- I made art: no art at all this week but december daily starts Friday!
- Flowers: still filling my life and home with these.
Trying to take things one good decision at a time here.
Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.
And finally, here’s the vision board for 2017. My word is shine.
Art Boards is a Monthly Project for November 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here. You can read about the start of this project here.
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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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