What happened to January?

Two snowstorms, one ice storm and a hoar frost later and the month is OVER! Ok technically its not over for two more days but - you get the drift so its time to review my January goals and look forward to my February ones!

January Checklist
1. Complete 30 day shred
I can say with pride that I am up to level 2 in the shred process - I didn't do it every day like I should - life and kids just get in the way of that all too often - but I did DO IT and that is progress!

2. Get Caught up on Bills and Savings
Here again I can proudly say that all of my bills for this month are paid with enough left over to stash some in savings and plunk down a deposit for the condo for our trip! YAY!

3. Clean up and Clear Out
Not as much progress as I'd like to see but I did institute a "winter things" bin for all of the gloves and hats in the kitchen and have done a decent job of keeping the clutter under control. More is needed but the end of Winter will be a BIG help in that one!

4. Recommit to my job - no comment

5. Weekly Creativity
I completed 17 layouts this month - not quite one a day but I'm definitely on track for a 200 page year if I keep up this kind of pace. AND I have some cropping scheduled this weekend too YAY

On to the February Goals:
1. Take the lead in our MetLife Biggest Loser contest! This couldn't have come at a better time - what great inspiration than a 200 bonus for the winner and bragging rights. It's a 13 week competition that puts me right in "Orlando Swimsuit" territory! Perfect timing!

2. $1000 in the bank and a new debt elimination plan
To help with the finances I have taken on a second job doing home improvement sales. It's working out great and I'm actually really good at it - who knew - with the money I make in this next month I want to go back through my baby steps on the Dave Ramsey Plan. 1st is the emergency fund of $1000 and then putting together my budget and a debt snowball. These medical bills are going DOWN baby!

3. Have a 50% closing ratio on all appointments whether they are Met or CNA!
I know that I can do it - and I know that I can get paid for them so I'm going for it - full force on both jobs and see how much I can push myself this next month. I need the energy!

4. Keep weekly "self appointment"
2 jobs - 2 kids = EXHAUSTED me. So I need to make time to do some self soothing in there somewhere so it is my goal for the month to schedule an appointment once a week for me to spend some time with me. That could be time spent scrapping - napping - doing a devotional or just praying and being quiet but momma needs an hour or so to make sure that I am still Kris not just the J's mom.

I just realized that none of my goals include my kids - of course keeping them happy and healthy is just a bonus of having a happy healthy mommy JT is growing up SO fast he's already sitting up and giving out kisses - he is so interactive! and my Jackson - Oh My Golly! He loves to tell me he thinks that I'm beautiful and I love to hear it! *sigh* I am so blessed.

Dirty Little Secrets

I have a confession and an admission to make today but first I must profess my love for my hairdresser Linda - she took my moppy momma hair and made it kicky and easy at the same time. Check it out just ignore the tired, puffy eyes..Love my baby boy being my photographer I guess it runs in the bloodstream!

Alright got that excitement out of the way - isn't it amazing how its the little things that thrill me these days. OK confession time. I had a very - we'll just say non-proud parenting moment this morning with Jackson. We have a set routine where I go down and take a shower while Jackson gets dressed then he comes down to "surprise" me with his outfit selection. Now - he is a typical boy with a closet full of khakis jeans polos and t-shirts and there are VERY few combinations that he can come up with that actually surprise me but today I can honestly say that today I was surprised...

Yup that's right my sweet little boy found a sweater vest with a polo hanging in his closet and decided that the fashionable thing to do would be to put it on without the polo underneath. So, as I peeked out of the shower curtain to see this lovely ensemble and burst out laughing - right in front of him - I didn't mean to I just couldn't. He was so upset that he shouted "don't laugh at me mom" and stormed out of the bathroom. I felt HORRIBLE. Of course not horrible enough to stop me from taking pictures of him and post them on the internet but I felt awful anyway...so I have officially laughed in my son's face - awww.

I also had a realization due to a thread on Have Your Way With Paper about why we scrapbook. Yes we tell ourselves that we do it for our kids - that the hours and dollars that we spend on these books are so that the kids will have treasured memories but I came to the realization that that's not REALLY why I do it. I'm surrounded by numbers and gutters all day long and I need this as my creative outlet - I'm glad that I am documenting my kids lives and putting down my thoughts about the photos I take and I love going back through my old books to see where my family has been and where we are going but I fully expect my boys to not really care about the time and effort I have put into these pages. Maybe someone some day will appreciate them but even if nobody cracks the spine of these books again I am satisfied that I was able to progress in my own art and that it has at least been appreciated among my peers.

So here are my latest creations.

Our little tricksters - based on Sketch 106 from Sketch Inspiration

And an attempt to fly through some of my stash:

Now that the cat is out of the bag...

I can FINALLY announce that my dear lovely friends at Have Your Way With Paper have graciously selected me to be the Guest Design Team Member for January -March! I'm SO thrilled to be a part of such a talented team and I am so committed to making each project I do worthy of the title!

January's sponsor is May Arts - I cannot WAIT to get my package of ribbons and start playing with them! Go check out their blog it is totally full of inspiration and some unique ways that I never thought of before. What a great first way to be able to stretch and challenge my creativity to incorporate an embellishment that I don't use very often.

Here are my first creations of 2010 and I'm genuinely happy with the way they turned out!!!

And - just because - some new years cheer from my biggest blessing of 2009!

2010 - Best Year Ever!

So - 2009 pretty much sucked with a few outstanding exceptions (i.e. Joseph's birth) but 2010 is going to be the best year ever! It's up to me to make it happen and I have to keep an awesome attitude but I know I can do it with a little bit of goal setting and perserverance. Instead of making over arching "year" goals I have decided to split it up into monthly goals instead. Nice way to tick things off one at a time and feel accomplished along the way. So here we go followers - I'm putting this out there so that I know what my responsibilities are and that you are all going to be cheering me on...at least you are in my head.

January Goals:
1. Complete the Jillian Michaels 30 day shred program
After a couple of weeks of holiday break I'm ready to shred. Each workout is only 20 minutes I know that I can carve that out of my day somewhere and really commit to getting my buns in shape. Disney World is only 4 months away now!

2. Get caught up on bills and restart savings and giving plans
Yup - there are a stack of medical bills from Joseph's arrival, a couple of store charge cards and other random bills that are in need of some attention - with the disappearance of child support and having my mill SLOWLY rebuilding at Met - its been hard to catch up much less get ahead. BUT with the addition of Job #2, I have made enough so far to get caught up now to work on the "getting ahead" part of that equation. I gotta get good at making my tithe to the church and to myself before paying everyone else. I smell a spreadsheet in my future!

3. Clean up and clear out
Shock and amazement but organization has never been my strong suit (insert sarcasm here) But I"m taking the house by the horns and coming up with new ways to organize especially the back entrance to the house for gloves, mittens and papers that come in every day. This week is going to be a test to see if I can get the kitchen in order. Wish me luck.

4. Recommit to my job
Lately it has been way too easy to let Metlife slide...mainly due to a lack of income/paycheck...but I'm trying some new work arounds to try to get me down to one job again! I've zeroed in on the things that I stopped doing that I need to start doing again and I'm hoping that the energy that I will not be expending on trying to keep the house and life in order can be channeled back into making MetLife work and be more prosperous for me.

5. Weekly creativity scheduled into my week.
When Joseph was born I started a Project 365 with one picture representing each day. It's been so much fun! Now there is another challenge that was presented...actually it was just a suggestion that my friend Chelsea put out for herself - and that is 365 scrap pages. One Layout per day! Lord knows I have the supplies and the pictures to accomplish the goal...the next thing will just be finding the time. When I think about the last few months of scrapping activity it does break back pretty close - I've been doing 5-10 layouts per weekend depending on how much time I have set aside to do them. If you add in crops at the church once a month and the digital 365 layouts that I'm going to be working on (which automatically count for 50 LOs right there) - I might come darned close. Hmm...

Here's to a Happy and Healthy 2010!