love eVeryDaY

progress

Today was a bonus day off for me, and the rest of my team at work. 

I'd love to truthfully say that I finished off my to do list from Wednesday, but I didn't.  Just got a couple of things done.  Thankfully, my page protectors for my December daily journal arrived.  I watched Ali Edwards' video on using her templates, and put together 3 of my own.  I ordered photos, made a trip to the credit union, purchased two amaryllis bulbs for the holiday season and then stopped at the Dutch Country Market for smoked wings and roast beef.  I spent a few hours this evening weeding through family pictures for the year, editing them, and uploading them so that I can start working on the calendar soon.

I didn't take any photos today.  Hopefully tomorrow.

right now

Today I was fortunate (given the rainy weather) to have a day off.  I was determined to rock through my list.  Clearly my desire to get things done, far outweighs how quickly I am able to work through them.  I do commend me (myself?) for getting up and out of the house early (thanks to a well-planned appointment for lab work).  Then it was off to get my brows done -- the downfall there was that I went to the shop in the mall, and then spent 3-hours there.  I was able to get some Christmas list planning done, I have a few things to read reviews for, and picked up a gift for someone.  I guess all-in-all, I did well.

Right now:

1. I am trying to keep up with my December Daily journal.  I am a few days behind, but I am still in the running.  I really want to finish it this year; or at least get through Christmas.  As I was gathering supplies to keep handy for this, I realized I have tried this in various forms (I think one year it was Shimelle's e-class), at least 3 times before.  Sadly, I have yet to have something to look at, hold, go back to from any of those attempts.  I am determined to do better.
2. I am deciding between a table top tree and a regular full-sized tree.  I have also considered a tree that I can plant afterward.  I probably should pull out the lights before I make a final decision.
3. I am starting a home-based sales business.  And I am scared that I have bitten off more than I can chew on this one. 
4. I am looking forward to seeing "A Christmas Celebration" on Saturday afternoon.  I really wish I could have convinced D to go with me.
5. I am extremely glad to have clean sheets tonight.  Changing the linens was one of the things I was able to scratch off today's list.
6. I am dreading tomorrow morning.  Rain with a threat of snow will not mean good things for the commute in.
7. I should be logging off of this computer and heading to bed.

daily december: december third

Friday was a regular work day, and I didn't get much done in the way of Christmas preparation.  But, it was an absolutely normal day for me.  Work from home, run out for breakfast (which was the only meal I had until 6:30 or so that evening), meetings, planning, turn off the computer at 5:30 and dash out for some me time.

After returning home (with several packages in tow), I pulled together the layout above.  Mostly it talks about how D and I are in different places when it comes to the holidays -- he is less inclined to be excited about the coming days than I.  Sometimes it's hard for me.  I am still a kid at heart when it comes to Christmas and he just isn't.

december second

I'd first heard about Operation Christmas Child about 15 years ago.  Maybe it was my love of Christmas, or maybe it was my penchant for picking up little items all of the time, but it sounded like something I wanted to do.  Something that I should do.  And I thought that I would.

But between working as many hours as I could and finishing up my last classes in my program, I wasn't able to get the box pulled together. 

The cycle of hearing about it and missing the deadline was one that would repeat itself a few times until, eventually, the project fell off my radar entirely. So, when coworkers returned from lunch one day in late October with red and green shoe boxes it seemed divinely designed.

"Hey, where did you get that?"

"They were giving them out at Chick-fil-a."

"Hmm, I just might stop by after work to get one."

"Really I just took one because they were handing them out. If you bring them back, the restaurant will give you a free sandwich. I don't think I'm going to do it, though.  Spending $20 to get a free sandwich. Not worth it to me.  You can have mine."

And so it began.

The box lived on the dining room table for a month. I had some things around the house to put in, but I wanted to add a little more.  Time was ticking away.  

It was the last collection day.  I hadn't picked up the last few items I wanted for the box and the very convenient restaurant near the office was not listed as an official collection site.  Yikes!

But I was determined to finish this time. In a last minute push, I decided to leave the office early, run to the store for the last few things and drop it off near home.  Even in the end, the hurdles did not fall away -- rain combined with rush hour traffic meant all of the 'extra' time was spent sitting in traffic, and I dashed through the store just 45 minutes before the site was scheduled to close. 

I pulled up at home about 20 minutes before closing to quickly arrange everything so it would fit, fired off a few shots, and dashed back out. By now, arriving before 8 was futile, but I was hopeful that someone would be at the site a little late.

And there was someone there.

Finally, success in completing this project.  And know what, I am looking forward to doing this many more years to come.

Happy December!

december first

 

So, I decided to try Ali Edwards' December Daily again this year.  I am hoping to keep up a little better than last year.  I still have the pieces, but very, very few stories and I never got around to putting it together.

This year I resisted the kit.  As much as I wanted it, I thought it would be better to use up some of my stash.  I'm trying to keep it simple and still trying to figure out how to handle the photos.  I don't want to derail myself by having tons of photos on my dSLR to print, so I may rely more on my iPhone.  And, since we recently scored a wireless printer, I may try to print a few here at home (but more than likely, I will have them printed elsewhere).

The journaling is the "why" for creating a journal this year.  Because as a kid, I would celebrate Christmas in September.  Because I am finally learning to love the spirit of giving over that of receiving.  Because I want my husband to see what I see.  Because I want my memories to last.  Because the third time is the charm.  Because this forces me to slow down.  Because I want to stretch my wings.  Because I still believe.

Until next time.

hi there

I'm pretty certain that no one is checking this blog anymore.  I barely look myself.  I mean, goodness, it's been an entire year (almost) since I last posted.  There's some good and some bad in that.  The bad is that my writing has simply dried up, and my presence here neglected for many, many months.  There were several posts that I blogged in my head, but none of them made it here.  On the other hand, I've lived a very busy and full year in 2011.  I've been involved in a huge project at work and it, sadly soaks up lots of time -- nevermind the long commute.  I've celebrated three years of marriage.  I enjoyed a quick vacation in PA with the women in the family.  I learned to Zentangle.  I witnessed a close friend marry the love of her life. 

Now it's December, my absolute favorite time of the year.  I am still like a kid -- eager about everything that the month will bring.  That said, there's no better time, than now for me to try breathing new life into this blog.

I'm back.

At least for a while.

xo.leahNicole

swoosh

I can hardly believe how quickly the holiday has come and gone.  I think that part of the problem is that it was all so neatly contained in one weekend -- Friday Christmas Eve, the hubby was off with me, very little last minute shopping, lots of gift wrapping; Saturday Christmas Day, a morning of wrapping, dinner with the family, gifts for the in-laws, and exchanging presents with family at mom's; Sunday back to the regular groove.  It was pretty surreal. 

Overall, I think I did a good job of constraining myself this year.  Somehow, by Friday I had worked through what may actually happen for the holiday, and had begun to mentally let go of the rest.  Yes, there are things that I wanted to do that just didn't happen, but I am hopeful to fit one or two of them into the last few days of my vacation.  We'll see how well I do.