One Little Word March Review

So far this year two practices are working out well for me: participating in One Little Word and focusing on getting healthy by adding or changing a habit each month. So far this year I have focused on adding more vegetable servings in January, more fruit servings in February, and adding an exercise habit in March. My intent has been that in adding something for 30 days it would help that practice become a habit. So far it is working well! Since I was down with the flu for so long in March and didn't get started on the exercise habit until mid-month, I decided to make this my April focus as well. Plus, it's a big habit to make a regular part of my life and a big change for me, so an extra month of focus can't hurt!

I'm finding that the habit of focusing on a word for the year is very beneficial in my journey of getting healthier. My word this year is REST. I chose it for many reasons. I thought when I chose it that it would be mainly about further developing a Sabbath type rhythm of life - and that is one of my focuses for maintaining my health emotionally and spiritually. But one of the other reasons for choosing this word has actually become foundational in getting healthy. I'm choosing to rest (depend on, wait on, lean on) God as I try to become healthier physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. I find that it is this habit and focus that is enabling progress and success as I try to change bad habits and add healthier ones. 

Ali Edward's prompts and exercises have really helped me, not only focus on practicing my word for the year, but also in focusing on the practices to help make healthy practices become lifestyle habits. March's prompt was to create a vision board using magazine clippings which I wrote about a few weeks ago here. I took a picture of my vision board and added it to my OLW binder as well as adding in some other pages to record my journey.

March divider 

I continued using last month's practice chart.

I have joined an online exercise community called Daily Burn which enables me to participate in an exercise program at home rather than going to a gym. I am really enjoying their True Beginner program with instructor Justin Rubin. This program is helping me build strength and mobility as I try an exercise program for the first time. Justin has a lot of sayings that he uses to encourage us so I included some of them in my binder.

The top one - "If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you." - fits well for all of the areas I'm trying to get healthier in.

Hoping you all have a great week!

For the Love of Creative Energy

Last week was a week full of creative energy. It started out with a long weekend for the Easter holiday. We had Monday off as our holiday day and I took Thursday off as a vacation day since school is out this week. Working only 2 1/2 days really helped amp up the creative energy! I think having a loose schedule probably benefits most creative types.

One of the Documented Life Project (DLP) challenges was to create white-space on a pocket card (PAC). Rae Missigman had a quick little tutorial on how she used shaving cream and alcohol ink to get a bit of swirly color on her background, so I thought I would give her method a try. My results did not end up with many swirls since I tried using a small Styrofoam tray with large sheets of paper. But the background on my card didn't turn out too bad.

Last week my sister and I started a Facebook group for those who love to use vintage items in their home decor and/or art. It's a place to share resources like the new vintage section of my Etsy shop, the adventures of vintage hunting my sister and I go on, vintage shops we find online and in the Ohio/Michigan area, ideas for using and repurposing vintage items in the home and in art, etc. You can check it out here and join the conversation and adventure!

On Thursday we met in Ann Arbor and spent the day hunting vintage finds. We also visited a shop we had found online. Tamara has a Facebook group for her shop and vintage findings as well as a new website. Despite the fact that it was pouring down rain, we had a great time meeting Tamara and exploring her sweet little shabby shack shop. We picked up a metal sign I had ordered online.

We then spent the rest of the day exploring thrift shops, antique stores and simply enjoying being together. Some of my vintage finds are below. They will appear soon in my Etsy shop in one form or another!

Saturday I had a finance team meeting at church and then poked around a few thrift and vintage shops in my area. A few of the vintage finds from Saturday:

Through this wonderful vintage brick alley in downtown Maumee you find a nice store full of antiques and repurposed vintage furniture. Encore Furniture 306. Saturday was my first visit to this shop.

On Sunday we had a full breakfast room at church. Having lots of kids around always fills my heart!

After church a few of the boys went with me to watch birds at the park.

One of the ongoing art projects my sister and I have is our altered Rolodex file art journals. We love sharing this project so I am always on the look out for more Rolodex card holders and boxes. This week I came across three! They will be listed in my shop in the next few days. I made some art journal cards to display in them and will include them as a bonus with each holder.

Left side: Anne's. Right side: mine.

A week full of creative energy was good for me in so many ways! Enjoy the week ahead. :)