Tuesday Plus One

Remember back at the start of the month when I was all gungho about February? I have since lost all enthusiasm for the month.  #reallife I can't even blame the weather because compared to last year February has been almost tropical. It's still -6 and there are patches of snow on the ground but this time last year there was six feet of snow on the ground and I was convinced spring (or summer) would never arrive. 

I have made zero progress on by 52 in 52 list. I read one book (largely because I was forced to earlier in the month when we lost power for 2.5 days during a snow storm) and completely missed the boat on my plan to start a good habit during Lent. I'm not even sure I bothered to fill a single page in a notebook this month. I did get Valentine's Day cards mailed and made a few Project Life pages, I need to print some more Disney photos though before I consider that fully accomplished. I'm also failing to remember a time this month when I went to a new restaurant, tried a new food or made a new recipe. 

I was also anticipating knowing if my contract will be extended past March 31 this month, but so far there's just be rumblings from the rumour mill that nobody will be extended. Which is fine but rumours don't do me any good I need to know for certain so I can make pre-camp vacation plans. #priorities I've said it before and I'll say it again but this whole contract position situation is for the birds....or at least people who unlike me don't feel the need to plan ahead.

At this point I'm more or less ready to write off February's productive and focus on getting in gear for March. Dusting off my planner, perhaps making a list of blog post, definitely making multiple to do lists. In various colours, stamps and washi tape...or scribbled on the back of a post it depending how things play out. 

That's all I've got for today. I thought I had photos but as it turns out they're on my memory card in my camera and not on my computer. Wishing you a Wednesday more productive than mine! 

Planning & Preparedness

I'm going camping this weekend, so you can imagine my delight when I checked the weather this morning and saw this:

At least it's not snow? 

I'm not sure why this week felt so chaotic and disorganized. My Type A personality loves the process of packing, making a list (okay, multiple lists) checking each item off the list, it's a good process. Except that last night when the district finance meeting was over at 9:00 I found myself in the little boys' section of Wal-Mart searching for splash pants. And at 9:15 I found myself in the frozen pizza aisle because I didn't have time to eat supper before I left for the meeting in the first place. When I got home I realized I had forgotten to pick up hair elastics, luckily I found a package hidden in the back of a drawer so the crisis was adverted. I still have to track dig my winter jacket out of the closet (and probably shed some tears in the process) but other than that I have managed to check everything off my packing list. My master to-do list still needs some work, but I'll deal with that after coffee.

I learned this week that my love of Girl Guides might come from an unexpected place...

I spent a lot of time this week working on Sparks meeting plans and came to the realization that my Type A personality really influences my love of Guiding, especially when it comes to badges. If I got a badge or a crest every time I followed a set of rules/instructions I would be a happy camper all the time. My little Sparkies are working on their "Being A Spark" badge but we're almost ready to move on to some more advanced program work. And by advanced I mean I've been fielding a lot of requests to "make a volcano", so stay tuned for that disaster adventure.

I've finished my coffee so that means it's time to tackle the to do list. And then reward myself with more coffee because that's just the kind of week it's been. 

Blogtember 2015: Tunes & Tales

It's been a hectic week and my to do list keeps growing instead of shrinking! So before I tackle a few more things on my list I'm going to take a minute to share some meaningful music and a few other favourites. 

{one}

Bailey Jean is asking us to share three songs that we're connecting with right now. This was a pretty easy question for me to answer. All summer long I have been loving John Cougar, John Deere, John 3:16 by Keith Urban. I love High Valley and lately their song Country Line has been one of my favourites. Lastly a song I've been listening to for well over a year but has remained one of my go tos when I need some upbeat inspiration My Lighthouse by Rend Collective.

{two}

I've been eating some great food this week, both in taste and nutrition value. Earlier this week I had farfalle pasta and broccoli with meatballs and marinara sauce. Making leftovers tasty is a bit of a challenge for me so I was super pleased that I used leftover meatballs and sauce from the night before to make this lunch. On the middle you'll see a happy kitchen disaster. I set out to make a smoothie but  I ended up making sorbet of sorts...I added some chocolate chips and it was delicious. Kitchen experiments are always fun, but sometimes you just need a big plate of broccoli & carrots. Because broccoli never disappoints. 

{three}

I almost didn't invest in this planner. The one I used last year was good until 2016 but it really wasn't working for me so I was pretty much just writing notes on post-its and calling it a day. When I found this one the end of July I wasn't sure I wanted to spend the money, but I did and I'm so happy with it. Best $20 I've spent in a long time. It's become a complete necessity to keep track of Guiding stuff and blogging things and family commitments. I'll probably do a full post dedicated to how much I love this planner, but this week it is one of my favourite things and deserves a shout out. 

{four}

It's not often I include links to articles in my favourites but this article published in The Guardian "Why The Queen of Mommy Bloggers Had To Quit" is worth a read for anyone who blogs regardless of your niche. I think it's a reality many bloggers don't consider when they are driven to create a blogging empire. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there's anything wrong with being a business blogger and finding ways to make your blog profitable. I just liked that this article showed a different perspective of the phenomenon that blogging has become. 

{five}

Our first Spark meeting is Monday and I'm excited and anxious to start the year. I'm eager to get organizing and come up with some fun activities to do this year. I haven't been in Sparks since I was a Spark, all of my leader experience has been with the older girls. I'm feeling a little overwhelmed by the whole process, but I'm sure once things start I'll be more at ease.

On that note, I am off to send some more emails. Turns out tracking down the key for our meeting place is more of a challenge than it should be and seeing as how it's almost noon I should really get dressed and out of my pyjamas!

Linking up here & here.

Friday Favourites

I had a pretty stellar week so it's only logical I link up with Andrea, Narci & Erika to share some of my favourite things this week. 

I blogged about my love for SMASH books before and it's been rekindled in a big way as I sift my way through photos and scraps of life from this past summer. I've also been drawing some major inspiration from Pinterest and strategizing how to combine SMASH book style and planners to organize my life in 2015. 

Pinterest via Coloursme

I get bored with planners pretty quickly. I like writing out my to-do lists, keeping track of hours at work, social events and everything else but after a month or two it grows tedious and I stop using my planner to it's full potential. By making my planner into more of an scrapbook/journal project than a planner it will keep me motivated and make organization more fun! 

Is it weird I'm thinking about my 2015 planner in October? Or that it makes me ridiculously excited? 

I've been at my new job for just over two weeks now and it's so different from anything I've ever done before. And that's a good thing. It's forcing me to take a step back from a few things I was prioritizing but now that I've had to re-prioritize and some things didn't make the cut I can take a step back and realize some of those things (and people) shouldn't have been getting so much of my time. It's incredibly refreshing.

Photography makes me happy. It's quickly climbing the list of my favourite things now that I have more time to play with my camera. Making time for things that make me happy isn't a new philosophy but it's one I'm going to start implementing more intentionally. 

Weekly Round Up

{one}

Monday I went to town and checked out the brand new Target! I was a little disappointed, it didn't have the same selection as the one in the City, plus it was crazy  which I guess is to be expected, it's not too often a new store opens around here. I didn't buy anything in Target but I couldn't resist treating myself to a Caramel Brulee Latte from Starbucks. I am super excited that since the arrival of Target I now have a Starbucks closer than 5 hours away. Not that I will be making frequent visits there because, well, I'm cheap. 

{two}

I haven't done any Christmas shopping yet...I really need to get on that next week. Especially the 2 or 3 gifts that need to be mailed. And as a side note why is mailing things so damn expensive? Buying said gifts would be a lot easier if I didn't have to factor in the weight and size of the gift. Last Christmas I bought a beautiful ornament and ended up paying over $20 to mail it by the time I wrapped the thing in bubble wrap so it wouldn't get broken. Why hasn't science come up with a way to teleport material items? 

{three}

Pinterest

I came across this on Pinterest this week and laughed for a solid five minutes before sharing it with all of my camp staff friends. It's ridiculously accurate. 

{four}

I had this grand plan to make my own "Blog Binder" but after numerous attempts I've accepted that it is much easier for me to just invest in a pen & paper planner. Now I just need to find one that meets all my requirements and is $10 or less. That will be on the to-do list for next week!

{five}

Pinterest

This just made me smile. 

Pause

The past few days I've felt like I needed a "Pause" button for life. There are just so many things I want need to do but every time I start something else comes up and I never finish. 

My room is in desperate need of a good cleaning. 

I have yet to write a full sentence for NaNoWriMo.

I'm running dangerously low on face wash & deodorant. 

My phone bill needs to be paid.

Laundry basket is overflowing.

I'm behind on Teen Mom 3.  (Maybe not the end of the world)

My BlogLovin' feed has 30+ unread posts. 

I am supposed to have a pile of Christmas cards made for the church tea & sale next week.

Google Analytics Round 2. (Seriously, WHY WON'T IT WORK!?!?!)

Blog Button Round 4. (I'm pretty sure the problem with this one is my lack of HTML skillz)

And here I am blogging about it all rather than making it happen. Except that blog should probably be on that list too

Anyone else need a 'pause' button for a few hours? 

Check! Check! Check!

I just love the satisfaction of checking things off a to-do list and this month I got to make lots of check marks! 

Last Months Goals: 

Blog 15 times in October

I blogged a grand total of 22 times this month! I am quite pleased with myself. 

Participate in 2 new Link-Ups/Blog Hops

I actually lost count of how many new link-ups I participated in this month. It feels like a lot, and some of them I enjoyed more than others. I did find some great new blogs to follow by joining in link ups of bloggers that I don't usually follow, which is always exciting!

Try 3 new recipes

I tried exactly 3 new recipes this month. Gingerbread Syrup to use in coffee, a teryaki chicken marinade and pumpkin spice muffins!

Read 2 books

I read 3 books this month! 

November Goals

Create a Blog Binder. There are so many awesome free printables and suggestions for how to organize posts, I want to figure out which ones work best for me. 

Blog 20 Times. Self-explanatory. 

Read 3 Books.

Do Yoga 4 times.

Make progress with 3 of the things of my 25x25 list. 

I'm also participating in NaNoWriMo this month...but that's a whole other goal...and I have written a total of 8 words so far. Ideally I would like to complete a novel, but I think aiming for 50 pages of writing will be my bare minimum goal. 

I'm linking up my november goals here & here.