My Creatively Random Life

 Wow, I feel like it has been a long time since I have ventured into this space.  It was a rough year for everyone and I personally could not find the desire to put my thoughts out into the world.  I want to change that this year, we were talking to Cat this morning about the importance of practice to improve at things and I felt that, if I want to be good at blogging, I need to get here and blog more, maybe not every day but at least once a week. This year I have no new resolutions, I don't want to set my ambitions higher than I will be able to go but I do have some small general goals, write more, move more, craft more, read more and study more.  There are only so many hours in the day but I want to maximize my use of them this year to do more of the things that I enjoy. Do you have goals for this year? Here's a New Year's Eve selfie from me just to reestablish what I look like.  

The word that came up for A this year was anniversary and that is perfect because this year in May will mark 9 years for Mike and I.  Meeting Mike and having the joy of having someone in my life who shares all of my favourite things and is always there to support my crazy ideas has meant the world to me. Whether it is dressing up with me for conventions or waking up at insane hours in the morning to go do 5ks he is always there for me and it makes me feel like the luckiest person in the world.  I look forward to the next 9 years and beyond. Are you celebrating an anniversary this year?

Next week, next Wednesday to be exact, I turn 39.  Which I feel a lot of pressure for as it will be the last year I have before I turn 40 and with everything that is going on in the world right now I realize how much more that there is that I want to get done before I turn 40. My health has been causing me problems this year and my doctor has recommended that I lose a little weight to help.  This is really high on my list for the coming year as I do not want to go into my 40's having preventable health issues.  Also on my list, as always is continued learning, as the current situation in the world had sharply shown me this year you never know what is going to happen and I want to make sure that I have something to fall back on should the worst happen. Being home all day, everyday has help me see how much time I really do have that is free and I waste doing things that bring me little to no pleasure.  I have spent some time today working on my novel that I start...

My neglected blog readers, I want to say that I have been doing fun and exciting stuff instead of blogging but truth be told I have just been working.  I have lots of fun and exciting stuff going on this summer though and I am hoping to blog about lots of it.  A couple new cosplays in the works, some new shows we are watching, in training for a 5k (in costume!). I look forward to blogging at least once a week over the next little while.

So I got myself a bunch of fancy journals once and they have been collecting dust on my bookshelf.  Cleaning my bookshelves is another one of my big goals this year.  I have decided to use my fancy prompt journals for blogging.  This one is my favourite, it is one of those ones where you have a question a day and you ask yourself the same one every year and see how the answers have changed. 1) What is your mission? My mission for this coming year is to be true to myself and do what more of what make me happy and less of what I feel I have to (in my own head, due to imaginary social pressure not real things). I rather like the things I like and want to just go with that flow.  

Currently.... It's been a while since I have posted one of these for you guys.  I miss it, updating you on all the random things that I have going on.  I am hoping to have the time to get it up and going again. As well as the rest of my blog since I have been neglecting it just a wee bit. Loving... It's almost fall again, the weather is cooling down, I can wear boots everyday and jackets and hoodies.  This is my best time of year.  I was given both new boots and a new hoodie recently so I will be wearing the heck out of both. Reading... Right now I am reading The Zombie Survival Guide: Complete Protection From the Living Dead by Max Brooks and listening to Chainfire by Terry Goodkind on Audible. Watching... Right now I am binge watching a lot of Criminal Minds and Supernatural while I study.  Not sure what works for you but I am on fire with my marks so I am going to keep it going for now. Making... Working on my Chri...

Eat to fuel your body. Sluggish, tired from eating junk because I was always so busy me was not a fun person to be around at all.  She pretty much just worked and slept and occasionally snapped at people because they tired to make her do other things. A part of the course I am taking is fitness and nutrition and a part of learning about that is learning how food fuels your body.  IT MAKES A DIFFERENCE.  You have to stick with it though to get through the bad parts.  The first few weeks of cutting out processed foods and cutting back on sugar were a nightmare, I felt like I was dying. DYING!!!! I feel great now though and it takes some planning to work out days when I am busy or we are going out but so worth it.

I have a 13 year old now and he is moody and full of attitude.  But once upon a time he looked like this.  A happy, cheerful, little boy with chubby cheeks.

Still with the crazy work schedule but I have gotten a little bit accomplished this week.  Yay!  Working towards other stuff as well since some stuff is a process. New Goals For February: 1) Post every day on my Facebook page. 2) Have my first vendor event. 3) Stay on top of my blogging. 4) Earn 1 CE credit. 5) Log every book I finish on Goodreads. 6) Read another 3 books towards my goal. 7) Clean kitchen cabniets. 8) Finish pink blanket. 9) Start blue blanket. 10) List March granny square swap on swap bot. 11) Roll yarn for Belle Blanket. 12) Make signs for Vendor Show. 13) Do first facebook live event. 14) Figure out how Square works. 15) Scan notes and get rid of full notebook. 16) Watch Season 10 of Doctor Who. 17) File taxes. 18) Workout three times a week. 19) Put Kindle on Ipad to save space on phone. 20) Buy baby present for cousin. 21) Start costume for Toronto Comicon. 22) Buy tickets for Toronto Comicon. 23) Go for a 5...

There was a huge part of me that wanted to scrap the goals because I feel like I am not getting a lot of them done.  But I am getting so much stuff that is not on the list done that I feel like I should keep it.  It is keeping me motivated. New Goal For February: 1) Post every day on my Facebook page. 2) Have my first vendor event. 3) Stay on top of my blogging. 4) Earn 1 CE credit. 5) Log every book I finish on Goodreads. 6) Read another 3 books towards my goal. 7) Clean kitchen cabniets. 8) Finish pink blanket. 9) Start blue blanket. 10) List March granny square swap on swap bot. 11) Roll yarn for Belle Blanket. 12) Make signs for Vendor Show. 13) Do first facebook live event. 14) Figure out how Square works. 15) Scan notes and get rid of full notebook. 16) Watch Season 10 of Doctor Who. 17) File taxes. 18) Workout three times a week. 19) Put Kindle on Ipad to save space on phone. 20) Buy baby present for cousin. 21) Start costume ...

 A slower week but still progress. This month's goals: 1) Get diath piercing. 2) Clean up my book shelves. 3) Put pictures into photo albums. 4) Design daily planner printable since I can't find one I like. 5) Finish the one section of my fitness course. 6) Finish one section of my update course. 7) Finish one section of my event planing course. 8) Earn one CE credit. 9) Start a book club. 10) Read 5 books towards my Goodreads Challenge. 11) List 3 things in my Etsy Shop. 12) Set up a dedicated crafting area. 13) Write every day. 14) Prep lunches in advance. 15) Make a meal plan for February. 16) Clean out Dvd's. 17) Unsubscribe from unwanted emails. 18) Go to the ROM. 19) Set up a savings plan. 20) Make my bed every day. 21) Organize yarn. 22)Set up Goodreads Challenge. 23) Organize nail polish. 24) Paint toe nails. 25) Take a selfie every day. 26) Post to Instagram every day. 27) Host a blog giveaway. 28) Make busi...

January has been an interesting month for me so far.  I had a strong start thanks to using my Audible credit for December on a "self help book" which really shook me into action.  My first week of cross offs are in purple.  This month's goals: 1) Get diath piercing. 2) Clean up my book shelves. 3) Put pictures into photo albums. 4) Design daily planner printable since I can't find one I like. 5) Finish the one section of my fitness course. 6) Finish one section of my update course. 7) Finish one section of my event planing course. 8) Earn one CE credit. 9) Start a book club. 10) Read 5 books towards my Goodreads Challenge. 11) List 3 things in my Etsy Shop. 12) Set up a dedicated crafting area. 13) Write every day. 14) Prep lunches in advance. 15) Make a meal plan for February. 16) Clean out Dvd's. 17) Unsubscribe from unwanted emails. 18) Go to the ROM. 19) Set up a savings plan. 20) Make my bed every day. 21) Organize ...

At the end of last year I came up with 40 goals for myself for the last 40 days of 2017.  I did not finish all 40 goals but it did motivate me to get a lot of stuff done and I had a lot of fun doing it.  I was going to do a list of things that I wanted to do for the whole year this year but I thought as things are ever evolving that it would be better to do one new thing for every day of the month starting in January and just pull over from one month to the next the few extra things that did not get done. Including the things from last year's list that I did not finish. New for January: 1) Get diath piercing. 2) Clean up my book shelves. 3) Put pictures into photo albums. 4) Designing daily planner printable since I can't find one I like. 5) Finish the one section of my fitness course. 6) Finish one section of my update course. 7) Finish one section of my event planing course. 8) Earn one CE credit. 9) Start a book club. 10) Read 5 books towards my Goodr...

 So, I super fell behind with blogging with the holiday stress and a toothache that was out of this world.  I did get some things done, not as many off my list as I would have liked but a lot of things that were not on the list.  This is the last time that I will update before the new year and anything that I still want to get done will be getting rolled over to my list of stuff that I want to do in January.  Stuff that I finished since last time is crossed out in green. 1) Finish the human relations unit in the course I am taking. 2) List 1 item in my Etsy Shop. 3) Cancel my gym membership. 4) Finish dying the yarn for the pink blanket I am making. 5) Post my first video on Youtube. 6) Clean out my closet. 7) Clean out my daughter's room. 8) Replace my broken grocery cart. 9) Watch Spiderman Homecoming. 10) Watch Justice League. 11) Reinstall Windows on my computer. 12) Finish one section of the next unit in my course. 13) Purge my clothe...

 Apparently making a giant list of things you want to do is the way to go.  I not only knocked a few things off the list but I was motivated to do extra things as well.  Always great. 1) Finish the human relations unit in the course I am taking. 2) List 1 item in my Etsy Shop. 3) Cancel my gym membership. 4) Finish dying the yarn for the pink blanket I am making. 5) Post my first video on Youtube. 6) Clean out my closet. 7) Clean out my daughter's room. 8) Replace my broken grocery cart. 9) Watch Spiderman Homecoming. 10) Watch Justice League. 11) Reinstall Windows on my computer. 12) Finish one section of the next unit in my course. 13) Purge my clothes and organize drawers . 14) Catch up on pen pal letters. 15) Wrap Christmas presents. 16) Make homemade soaps. 17) Make lotion bars. 18) Make bath bombs. 19) Make up quick crochet washcloths for teacher gifts. 20) Make a book Advent Calendar for the kids. 21) Make a binder for my p...

Here we are almost at the end of November and I am not sure what I have accomplished this year.  Feels like not a lot.  I have been sick the last few weeks with crazy migraines and have gotten even less accomplished.  With only 40 days left till 2017 ends I have come up with a list of 40 things that I want to achieve before the end of the year. 1) Finish the human relations unit in the course I am taking. 2) List 1 item in my Etsy Shop. 3) Cancel my gym membership. 4) Finish dying the yarn for the pink blanket I am making. 5) Post my first video on Youtube. 6) Clean out my closet. 7) Clean out my daughter's room. 8) Replace my broken grocery cart. 9) Watch Spiderman Homecoming. 10) Watch Justice League. 11) Reinstall Windows on my computer. 12) Finish one section of the next unit in my course. 13) Purge my clothes and organize drawers. 14) Catch up on pen pal letters. 15) Wrap Christmas presents. 16) Make homemade soaps. 17) Make lotion b...

Currently.... I have not done a currently post in ages and I thought now would be a good time to revive them as I have got a lot going on and have been blogging a lot more. Loving... Getting more exercise out in the fresh air walking Miss Cat to camp every morning.  It feels great and we enjoy the time together. Reading... Hmm, right this second I do not have a book on the go.  Weird.  Usually I have three or four.  I was just contemplating rereading Ready Player One because I saw a teaser photo from the movie this morning and got all excited about it. Watching... Cat and I have been binge watching Full House on Netflix because Ace is away and we can watch whatever we want.  We are just at the end of Season Five. Listening To... Well, we went to see Iron Maiden on Saturday night and missed seeing Metallica on Sunday so I have been listening to a lot of both outside of work. Thinking About... I have an appointment to se...

Well, isn't it nice when life just makes you want to throw in the towel? I have been super overwhelmed with things, work, migraines, kids etc.  I have started to tame the lion and so back to blogging I have come.  And with lots of new things to blog about.  I will be taking a super big plunge starting Friday and every Friday and really blogging about my fitness journey.  It's a scary step for me but I need the motivation. I am also going to be getting back to posting my regular book reviews and other random things. Also more crafts again, Cat has been taking sewing classes and she wants to start making basic stuff at home to work towards making her own cosplay stuff. I look forward to chatting with you all more.  :)

Celebrate the Small Things is hosted by  Lexa Cain  along with wonderful co- hosts  Writing Off The Edge  and  The Cyborg Mom . This week I am having trouble finding anything to celebrate, it has been a long and rough week at work.  I do have a job though so there is that. Mostly I guess I am celebrating that it is the weekend and I get to have a glass of wine. What are you celebrating?

For the first time since I have started blogging I did not do a big goals or resolutions post this year.  Not because  I don't have any, I do but because they are a little more broad spectrum this year and I thought that maybe they would need their own posts to come out when the time was right. One of my goals for 2017 is to show more gratitude for the things that I have, which is in turn part of a larger goal but we will get to that another time.  I have tried to start a Gratitude Journal before but I got lost in trying to make it prefect rather than jumping right in and getting started which is a problem that I have a lot.  Then I remembered that I have this wonderful blog, which is like an online journal. A place where I can just go and keep track of the things that I am grateful for and publish it or not. Today I am grateful for: -my job, I work with wonderful people. -my children. -sweaters -my mom -coffee Do you keep a gratitude journal?