Days #5 and #6

Alrighty! Here I am on day #6, and so far so good! Yesterday was good too, as you can see by the two photos below. The only thing was, on top of being tired, I was SOOO freezing both mornings, so... I was standing there with my camera and closed my eyes both times before I took the pictures. Hence, the amazingly abstract feel of the photos. :-P




Today is one of those days that you walk around with multiple layers of clothing, a scarf around your neck, and a hot beverage in your hands. A hot beverage that has to be re-heated multiple times because of the freezer-like qualities of the air around you. It is also one of those days where your cheeks get rosy INSIDE of the house because of the cold. Which, as some of you know... is a very hard thing for me to achieve even when I'm OUTSIDE, so when my cheeks are pink in the house... I'm happy with the look of it, and otherwise just... somewhat popsicle -esq and miserable.

In other news... well. There is lots of news, actually. But my fingers are frozen, so I think I won't go into all that. The main thing is that I posted on here at all. And unfortunately, I don't have any photos more than what you see here already, 'cause I'm just... cold and I haven't taken any yet. :-D Maybe I'll take some later and post them tomorrow.

I finally have pictures up of the cake that I worked on last week though, so you can click on the picture below to the see the blog post for that.





Be back tomorrow! Hopefully with more wit and less freeziness to post. ;) Thanks, again, for reading and keeping me on my toes!

And P.S. I really love this song. Tip, though: If you're wearing headphones, don't crank the volume and click on that link. I even know what to expect when I do that, and it still makes me jump out of my skin every time. Turn the volume DOWN... and then adjust as necessary. :)

Day #4

Again, not much time! It's so late! Ah! Will post more later... one of these days. When I have more time. But the main thing is, this was another successful day. :) And so will tomorrow be, likely, if I can ever get to bed. :-D



These cupcake pictures are *some* of what I've been working on this week. The main thing is yet to come, so hold on to your hats! I'll probably post pictures on Monday.

Also, just so you know-- I try not to get online at all on Sundays, so I likely won't be updating the blog tomorrow.


Thanks for keeping me accountable, y'all! Knowing that people can read these posts helps keep the fire of motivation ablaze. It's awesome.

Later!

Day #3

Long story short-- I have to get up at 7 (obviously), and it's almost 1 a.m. So I'm gonna make this brief.

Got up at 7, underestimated how long it would take to make a cake, and spent the rest of the day (pretty much)... making the cake. Photos to come.




(And yes, I promise-- I didn't just repost the photo I took yesterday. In case anyone was wondering. )

Today's photos, I know, are VERY similar to yesterday's photos, but... The main project of the day is going to have its picture posted later. So these will just have to do.

On another note, do you like Deborah's pink poinsettia? :D I think it's purty.

Day #2

Another good day. I've spent most of it tired, but that's okay. Progress is being made!

The recap of the day today would mostly include baking and trying not to fall asleep. So I won't elaborate. :-D

Now I'm off to make some sugar roses-- be back tomorrow!

Note: These pictures aren't that great, 'cause I forgot to take them till there wasn't any more good light. The pictures are of some sugar roses that I've already made for some cakes this weekend.

A lesson from the day: Trying to read when you're so tired that your eyes don't remember what they're for is not really a good idea-- you likely won't get much out of the experience.

21 Day Challenge - Day #1

Day #1 - So far so good! Despite what the alarm says, I did get up at 7:00 - I just couldn't see a bloomin' thing in the dark, and not wanting to wake up the other girls in my room with the lights, I fumbled around in the dark for a few minutes trying to get the camera and put it on the right setting. I chose "Auto Mode," 'cause I wanted something that would take the picture before it said "7:45 a.m." and preferably something that would make the picture a little bit more than... black. :-D I hope the flash didn't disturb anyone.

I confess, I actually almost did decide to sleep in till 7:30... but then I thought of this blog and changed my mind. I lugged my freezing self into the living room with my Bible, wrapped up in a blanket, and... eh he... another confession, *almost* fell asleep again. But I didn't-- I was in drift mode, but I got ahold of myself after about 15 minutes and was able to read some. :)

Part of the reason for my success with today's getting up was because my cousin Abby had spent the night and had to be up and ready to go by 8:30-- so I wanted to make sure there was some coffee and such for her, and of course, I wanted to say goodbye.

Other than that, the day can be summed up in not-too-many words: Bible, tea, email, reading, banking, learning, tea, Bible, shopping, tea, eating, tea, meeting with clients, shopping, blog. (There were other things in there as well, but I'm trying to keep this brief.)

And now... I want some tea. Actually, what I really want is to curl up on the couch in my pajamas with a fuzzy blanket and some tea. BUT... I'm tired, and I would surely fall asleep. And I have a lot of cleaning to do which has to be done before tomorrow morning. So the rest of the day will likely be...

Tea, cleaning, French with Rosetta, tea, bed.

On another note, wanna see some of those pictures I promised? I learned a bit about taking portraits today, so I borrowed a Micaiah for practice. And then she wanted to take some pictures of me too, so here we are.


Cute.

Cute.


I took this photo when I wasn't even looking. THAT. Is what'cha call skillz.




Caiah wanted to take a picture together. And... the wind, apparently, wanted to be in it as it's freeziest version of itself. It did a pretty good job.


A little blurry, but us. :)

And now, last but not least-- some lessons from the day:

- When grocery shopping in the whipping winter wind, grab the ugly warmer coat. You will not regret.

- When pulling a T-shirt over your head, inserting your arm into the head compartment makes the whole experience a million times more confusing.

Be back tomorrow... Hopefully with another successful mission to report. :)

The 21 Day Challenge

Well, 2011 is upon us. I don't know about you, but I always begin each new year pondering the year past and more importantly, pondering the one ahead of me... trying to discern where I can improve and where I ought to be spending my time and effort. This is something I need to pray about more than anything, but during the time of listening to God for direction each year, my action plan usually involves doing the best I can with what He's already given me. There are lots of plans that I've made for this year regarding those things, but I won't go into it all now. The reason for this post is mainly to talk about one big adjustment that I'm needing to make: I need to better manage my time.

Over the past little while, I've slipped into the terrible habit of sleeping in every day. Being self employed, I am accountable to myself. And well... I've not been keeping myself too rigidly accountable in the area of "Getting an early start on each day." I realize that if I am going to be a good steward of things that God has given me, I need to maximize my time. I need to be more disciplined with getting out of bed every day.

I've made many grand pronouncements of "What I am planning to do to make myself get out of bed" in the past, but they mostly haven't worked... So I've come up with a NEW plan! It's called, "The 21 Day Challenge."

They say it takes 21 days to form a new habit. My efforts in the past to make myself form the habit of early rising have usually involved "Eat right away so that I wake up," "Exercise right away so that I wake up," "Read my Bible right away so that I wake up," etc... But, those efforts usually end up something like this.

Me: *zzzz*
Alarm clock: "BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!"
Me: "AHHH! *leap out of bed to turn it off and groggily look around to see a soft, plush bed beside me*"
Alarm clock: *silence*
Me: "I am tired. I am freezing. If I get up now, I will be tired and freezing."
*thinks*
Me: "zzzzzz"

(2 hours later)....

Me: "*wake up, look at clock* AH!"

Yep. That's the typical pattern. :-/ I ashamed to admit it, but there it is. SO...

To break this habit, I've decided that I need a system of accountability. My 21 Day Challenge will be to keep myself accountable to this blog! This Wednesday is day #1. I'm challenging myself to get up every day with my alarm, take a picture of the time I got up, and then write a recap of how the day was spent on this blog. If I fail to STAY up after taking the photo of the clock, the 21 day period restarts. I have to go 21 days straight without sleeping in.

ALSO...

One of my projects for the new year is to learn to use my awesome new camera better. So, each day, I'll try to take some photos of something. Those will go on here as well. :)

I have no idea if anyone even reads this blog, but at the very least, I do. :-D And that's reason enough for me to keep it up. So, here goes!

Note: Today was going to be day #1 of The 21 Day Challenge... But I fell asleep reading my Bible. Eh-he. So, knowing that I'm having company tonight and will probably be up late, Wednesday it is!

--(Insert random photo of self below)--

Thank you Sarah for this awesome hat! :D :D :D Talk about yay!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Well, as most of you know, it's been wedding season, and I've been busy. Click on the picture to see more of what I've been up to!