Day 20

I spent some time today browsing some quotes about success. I wanted to do a page in my art journal about success, what I believe success to be. I also needed to remind myself of what I believe success to be. It's so easy to get caught up in the material things, at least it is for me. And I know that deep down in my heart, I don't believe that material wealth means success but gosh, when everyone around you has a nice house, all the pretty decorations, the fancy vehicles, designer clothes, etc. it's hard not to get caught up in it. Not that I think there is anything wrong with those things, let me clarify, just that I believe it shouldn't be my main goal in life and how I measure how successful I've been in my life. I would so much rather know, when I die, that the people around me were loved, that the world was a better, brighter place because I lived, than have the most toys.
And Cate asked me a question on my last blog entry: "So, do you feel like your 21 days is working? Are you feeling like your "habit" is something that's coming easier, or is it something that your going to need to consiously continue?". Awesome, awesome question. I plan on answering it when I post my final entry. ;)

Day 19

I meant to have this up last night but wasn't quite finished and also wanted to photograph it in the daylight.
The 'e' is handcut. The rest of the letters are AC stickers. Papers are Bo Bunny (red) and Melissa Francis (teal). Flower is Nunn Designs. TFL!!!!
Only 2 more days to go - WOW!

Day 18

Just a reminder of why I'm doing this challenge. TFL!

Day 17

Better late than never?! I hope so. I am not very good at taking compliments or praise from people. It comes from not believe in myself, not thinking I'm good enough, not thinking anything I do is good enough. I usually smile and nod and say thank you but I don't believe it. I think they must be out to lunch or they are just trying to be nice. It's not good. I need to learn to say thank you and MEAN it and BELIEVE what they are saying to me.

Friday...

Well, my apologies for being slack on the blog this week. It's been a long week. I'm so glad it's over. I'm madly trying to finish up things for my class tomorrow. DH's family is coming to town this weekend to celebrate his birthday and I have so much to do before then. The house is a bit of a disaster, I have a mountain of laundry to do and I need to vaccuum. I feel way too much pressure when my in-laws come to visit.
Anyway, still working on the 21 day challenge, I'm not done yet. I just have way too much on my plate this week. I promise to post soon!
But for now, I'll post one of my HOF layouts instead.

Today

is this man's birthday, my husband, my best friend, my biggest fan, my safe place. I am SO thrilled that I get to celebrate this day with him. He's turns 31 today (times flies, doesn't it?!) and I wasn't able to celebrate with him last year for his 30th so today is pretty darn special. It is such an honor to be his wife, to be a part of his life, to live every single day with him. I am SO grateful that we are married, together and going strong.
Wishing you the most amazing year, my love! May it be filled with many, many reasons to celebrate!

Day 16

Just a reminder to myself to laugh often. It's so good to laugh. I laugh quite a bit but sometimes I get too serious.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the amazing, encouraging, beautiful comments you have left on my blog. They have touched me, made me cry, made me smile, made me happy. I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I plan on printing out all the comments that have been left on my art journal and using them on one of my last entries. They have been so meaningful. Thank you!

Day 15

Okay, trying to get back into this again. I decided I needed to give myself a little pep talk today. Unfortunately, it's not working. :( Maybe one day...

SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY!

for my dear friend, Mary - she's a 2006 Hall of Famer!!!!!! I was privileged enough to see her entry and it was absolutely AMAZING! She is amazing! I am so proud of her and so thankful we are friends!

Day 14

Okay, I'm slowly getting caught up, thankfully! Are you all getting sick of seeing these entries?!
The color combination was inspired by a creative prompt Christi posted on her blog. Thanks for the inspiration, Christi!

Day 13

I absolutely LOVED this quote that Rhonna posted on her blog a few days ago. It definitely pushes me forward, reminds me to keep working hard, keep on trying to achieve my goals, even if it's just a little bit every day.
I have to admit a couple days ago, I was ready to give up on this challenge. I'm pretty disappointed in myself right now. I've got way too much on my plate. I'm having trouble keeping up with this but last night I decided, it's now or never, who do you want to be? Do you want to be the person you have always been or do you want to change? What is important? And so I forced myself to sit down and do these past 2 entries. They were really hard, I have almost zero creative juice flowing right now, I'm tired and frustrated BUT I'm glad I did them. I'm glad I didn't give up.

ARGH!

I've been having some major problems with blogger the last couple days so my apologies for multiple posts and my lack of 21 day art journal challenges. I can't upload photos right now and it's really annoying me.
I'll keep trying and hopefully be able to upload something later today.

Day 12

I definitely needed this reminder BIG time today. TFL!

Day 11

YAY! I made some time to create this entry tonight! I'm working on another one too, hopefully I'll be able to post it tomorrow.

I'm still here...

Last night I had to go for a 10km run after work so by the time I got home, had a shower and ate dinner, it was 7:30pm. We desperately needed to do some cleaning as well and so before I knew it I was exhausted and ready for bed. So I didn't have a chance to work on my art journal BUT I printed the photo of the mountains so I can get moving again on it tonight.
WHEW! This week is off to another busy start - the story of my life! HAHA! I also hope to get caught up on reading others' blogs this week too. My apologies for not reading and commenting lately.
Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Soul Food

Time out in the moutains just absolutely feeds my soul. I feel so refreshed and rejuvenated after spending time in the mountains, breathing in fresh air, getting some exercise, enjoying the incredible views. This photo is going to be used on my Day 11 art journal entry. I'm going to do an entry on how the much I love the mountains and how important those times away in nature are for me.

On Saturday we cross country skiied near Lake Louise and then spent the night at a wilderness hostel with friends. Then on Sunday we went snowshoeing to this lake, where both of these photos were taken. The snow was SO deep. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Day 10

Whew! I'm super short on time today. We're heading out early tomorrow morning for a weekend in the mountains with friends so I really should be packing but wanted to get this done today. So here's day 10 - love this quote Rhonna posted on her blog today! TFL!
Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

Day 9

I think this post is pretty self explanatory. :) My apologies for the wonky scan. I promise it is all straight and matches up in real life! TFL!

Day 8

A SUPER simple, quick entry for today because it's a very busy day! I absolutely LOVED this quote Rhonna shared on her blog yesterday. It just hit me so hard, exactly what I needed to hear and so I had to include it in my journal.

Day 7

Because sometimes I forget!

Day 6

Whew! I'm finally getting back into it! Today's entry is pretty simple, I was short on time but still wanted to work on it! I totally needed to read this quote again today. Isn't it powerful?!?! I am SO good at listening to the voice that says 'CAN'T' so I wanted to do an entry to remind myself to listen carefully to what I tell myself. TFL!!!!!!!

a good weekend

I had a great weekend. It was SO good to spend some time with my family just catching up and hanging out, eating great food and doing some scrapbooking. I had a rather unproductive weekend scrapbook-wise but that's okay! I got some great prizes that I can wait to play with now. I also managed to do a small photo-shoot of my sister. She's at 21 weeks and is the very first one expecting in our family. I am SO excited for her. So I thought I would share some of my favs that I took. Isn't she gorgeous?! Love her to bits.





I never got a chance to work on my art journal all weekend but hope to get back into it tonight. I have some ideas so that's a start...

Off for the weekend!

I'm just heading out the door to my sister's place for the weekend. I'll be spending the weekend scrapbooking with her, my mom, my aunt and my cousin. I am SO excited!!!!!! I'm leaving a bit earlier than I had originally planned because the snow is coming down and I want to give myself lots of time to get there.
I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and I'll be back on Monday to update my 21 day challenges!
Smoochies!

Day 5

Today's challenge for me was to come up with a list of things I like about myself. WOW, that was hard. It took me over an hour to write this. Gosh I could think of pages and pages of things I don't like which is not good. But this is a start. I did it and hopefully I'll be able to continue adding to it.

Day 4

I decided I wanted/needed to lighten things up a little with this entry so I made a list of things I'm thankful for right now. I tend to be a pessimist and can have a hard time seeing the good in my life (although I must admit, I've gotten a lot better at this in the last year). I've actually tried in the past to keep a graditude journal but just never kept it up. Now that I think about it, I could make being thankful a 21-day challenge! Haha! Anyway, I wanted to create a list that I could look back on in the future and see where I was today, what I was thankful for right at this moment.
And again, I am blown away but all the kind and encouraging comments that have been left on my blog. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Hugs!

Day 3

Here is my day 3 entry. My friend Mary took the photo of me. I used a high contrast when I converted it to give it kind of an edgy feel (it looks much better irl). Sorry for the wonky scan - my scanner doesn't like bulk so it makes things look crooked sometimes but I promise everything is straight irl!!!
I hope you can read everything - just an entry about who I am because of my faith. This was a hard one to do, mostly because I don't really believe all the things I wrote but I know they are true so I put them down as a reminder. Maybe if I read them enough I'll believe it.
I created a little vellum pocket and tab on the second page so I can pull out the journaling if I want or read it through the vellum too.
And I want to say a very big thank you to everyone who has read and posted on my blog. It means the world to me. I have shed many tears because of your encouragement. Last night I told my husband that I wanted to quit (already?! I know it's been 3 days) because this is really hard. Gosh, I feel so vulnerable and insecure. But I know that I need to do this and I'm so glad I posted this on my blog because it's making me accountable and that's exactly what I need right now because it's too easy to quit when it gets hard. I've done that before and it's gotten me no further ahead. So I'm pressing on, continuing with this journal because I know (at least I hope) it will be worth it in the end.
*ETA* The above quote is actually by Marianne Williamson, not Nelson Mandela. Apparently he quoted her in a speech and is often given credit for that quote but it is by Marianne Williamson. My HUGE apologies to everyone here and to Ms. Williamson. I will be reprinting the photo tonight with the proper name on it.