2014: One Little Word

Last year, I started off my first 'new year' without resolutions. Instead of making lofty goals that I might not be able to reach, I decided to start my year off with some focus, and so I joined Ali Edwards One Little Word course. My One Little Word in 2013 was Choose. Choose was in the back of my mind for 2013, even if I didn't blog about it much past April, and I didn't participate in the projects that Ali Edwards' class had to offer.  It wasn't just about choosing to make good decisions but about choosing how I will react, choosing how I will embrace opportunities and challenges. I can't say I remembered all the time, but for the most part, CHOOSE was something that helped my focus last year.

This year, I debated a lot about whether I was going to do this again. I definitely didn't want to try to keep up with monthly projects because that just didn't work the first time, and I don't want to set myself up for failure. But this is definitely not the year to go back to "I'm going to lose 15 lbs before my birthday, summer, next year." I'm not doing that again. I knew that if I was determined enough, my OLW could really help me focus on the important things in my life.  I thought about a word to pick, but I think 'believe' really picked me.

I have a bangle I wear every day with the word 'believe' on it. My mom and I bought a matching set on a trip to wine country back in 2008. It was the first bracelet in our collection  (which is a whole other post that needs to happen). We've collected many bracelets since then, but the only one I wear 100% of the time says 'believe.'   I feel like this word has been my OLW for the last 6 years without me realizing it. I also feel like this year, more than any other year, this word is going to carry my through 2014.

Believing that everything is going to be OK. Believing that I can accomplish my goals. Believing that I can choose to do the right thing. Believing that my prayers are being heard. I believe that 2014 is going to be full of magic and some amazing things, and I know that keeping this word in the back of my mind (and on my wrist!) will help me take it all in with and open heart.

What are you doing for the new year? Setting goals? Making resolutions? Intentions? Are you going to chose One Little Word to carry with you this year? I'd love to hear about it!

XO

OneLittleWord in April / Choose Wisely

Hello April. How quickly you arrived. I can't believe it really. It's April. That means my birthday is just a month away! April means that my not-so-little cousin will be 14, that we have to start planting more veggies in our garden. It means that we really need to start clearing spaces in our home and decorating so we can have the family over and show it off. April means Spring, and Spring means action. It means getting things done. With the message of Easter fresh from this weekend, April means renewal and resurrection, and it means starting fresh.

Like I mentioned last month, I haven't really been following along with the One Little Word class as much as I'd hoped. But it's different from how I see myself making this word work for me. It's more of a personal word and not something I want to make an album of. When I'm going about my day, choose is like a whisper in the back of my head, sort of guiding me along. 

Last month, my intention was to choose to thrive. It was a busy month and I am officially a day shifter. And I love it. There's still so much more to learn and refresh my memory on, but I really love getting to interact with my patients, their families, and even the whole hospital. As busy as it gets, I really feel like I am able to thrive and that I am doing what I wanted to do when I realized I wanted to be a nurse. I'm doing what I love again, and I'm thriving. 

This month, being with the themes of renewal and action, I am choosing to CHOOSE WISELY. This kind of brings it all back to the roots - why I picked this word. To choose my actions, my words, my thoughts, my attitude - wisely. I'm still getting through the learning curve at work, E and I have more time together, and I'm trying to spread out time with each of our families too. I want to choose wisely what I eat and how I spend my free time. Choosing to exercise or to exercise my right to use a substitute for butter when I cook. The big 26 is only a month away and I'd like to look and feel 26 and not feel like I ate two giant Easter feasts this weekend, and then some (oh wait, I did).  I need to be wise and not choose to eat two big feasts and then some in one weekend. 

But you get where I am going with this. It's almost a start over, 4 months in. Reminding myself that it's all in my hands, and that I can do it, in my own way. 

Happy April!

XO

Choose Thrive

Somehow it's March already, and somehow the beginning of the month has passed. I'm not sure where I stand with this whole OLW business. I got all super motivated after last month's post, and that lasted all of 5 minutes. But I am choosing to not let that dissuade me. This month is going to start bringing a lot of newness for me. Primarily in switching over to day shift at work.  It's going to mean taking a few steps backward and re-learning a lot of skills, it's going to mean stepping it up time management wise, and learning how to multitask even more at work. 

It's funny though. A few weeks ago when switching to the day shift was still under debate, I was feeling really anxious about it all. Now that it's almost here (I start this Sunday!), I am starting to feel more at ease about it. I know it's going to be a challenge the first couple of shifts...and maybe even more. But that just comes with change. And we need change to grown. This change is going to mean that I get regular sleep...at night. It means getting to sleep in my own bed every night. Getting to spend more time with E and with my family. It's going to mean better relationships, and finally getting to see my friends again! And it's going to be hard, and I can sit in the corner shivering in fear, but that won't get me anywhere. This month, I am choosing to go for it, to learn, to embrace it. I am choosing to THRIVE. 

XO

Choose - February update

I feel like I say this every month, but where has the time gone? How is it already February 22nd? This month has been lightning fast and super slow all at the same time, and I am really not sure how to explain that, but BAM! it's almost the end of the month. I'm sure you can tell it's been a busy one since all my soups have been posted late, and it wasn't until this last week that I finally got around to adding some other non-soup related posts on here. 

I wanted to write a post to update myself (and you all, if you choose to keep reading) on what's going on with my One Little Word. Yes, I signed up for Ali Edward's class, but no, I really haven't been following along. Mostly due to issues of time, but I also didn't realize it was going to be so scrapbook/Project Life oriented, and unless I plop myself on the floor of our spare bedroom/room that has all of the stuff we don't have another place for right now, and try to hash out some craftiness, I really don't have a place to get this all done. Which is also why, after this post about my first page of Project Life, I really haven't made much any progress.  I don't really know if I want to choose to make that project a priority this year.   

So speaking of choosing, this month I had posted here about practicing CHOOSE in my life. I guess this is just one of those months were I'm just not feeling it. Most of the time, it's only a faint whisper that's easy to ignore, but it seems that even when I am reminding myself of my one little word, it seems redundant and not very helpful. 

I think I just need to refocus. 

It's not just to practice my right to choose, or my ability to make decisions, it's about choosing the option that is best. Choosing to be open, choosing to embrace something new, choosing to tackle something scary, choosing to stay focused on a goal. Choosing to spend my time wisely, and choosing to get things done. 

Well that's all well and good, and now that I've put it down in words, I guess I shouldn't choose be lazy about the errands I have to run later today. But that's all part of it I guess. And if I am choosing to stay focused on a goal, maybe I need to set aside some project life time, even if it does mean turning the spare bedroom into a crafty mess for a while. Maybe that will inspire us to actually start to organize the space a little more! 

So thanks for listening, I feel refocused a little bit already. 

XO

One Little Word meets February

It's already February, and not only that, it's already the 4th. I feel like a whole lot has been going on and I am definitely digging 2013 so far. But in everything that's going on (mainly, all the cooking I've been doing), I feel like I've lost sight of a lot key points I started the year off with. I've lost focus of my One Little Word, choose. It's not that I haven't been thinking about it a lot, actually, I find myself actively saying it a lot, but not often enough and not in the times that I have needed it.  

I am following along with Ali Edward's class, but since I have barely had any time to commit myself to the first month of Project Life, I'm not pushing myself to put together the crafty album bits that the class focuses on. I am, however, using the prompts and ideas to help me guide this year of choosing. 

In January, the task at hand was to create 12 intentions for your word, and commit one to each month of the year. Last month I decided to "discover choose" and figure out what it would mean to my life this year. I can't say that I 100% followed suit. I spent a good amount of time telling myself to choose  to be productive. But I also spent a lot of time not choosing to ride my bike, and not choosing to stay on top of projects. That's OK though. I think that part of that involved choosing priorities. Yes, I am behind in Project Life. Do I even know if it's a project that is going to work for me? No. Am I going to continue to choose to try? Yes. 

I have found that I have discovered that my word needs to be personal. It's not really something that I can explain to others easily, but it makes sense to me. Sometimes just saying the word in my head helps me decide on the spot. I've discovered that, but now I need to focus on it and channel that little word into my brain more frequently. 

In February, with the start of a new month and the start of the Lenten season, my intention is to practice choose.  Not to practice choosing things, but to practice the idea of summoning my word into my head to help me focus. Help me to choose to live more simply, choose how to spend my time, choose how to allow this word into my life so that it works for me.  I'm not quite sure if that even makes sense to me yet, but I am choosing to embrace it and run. 

Happy February, even if I am a little late with it. 

XO

In My Life

Week two of twenty thirteen - where is the time flying? It's going quickly and lots of exciting things are happening.  E and I went on an impromptu trip to Las Vegas just to get away for the weekend. There's a shot of the view from our room at the Mirage. We had a fun time playing penny slots and watching Jersey Boys. Just relaxing and enjoying our time together. 

I'm spending a lot of time focusing on my word "choose" and I am feeling a big difference in my attitude about a lot of things, especially work. Choosing to tackle what's in front of me because I can helps me adjust my attitude. I mentioned before that I am participating in the "i choose" course via Big Picture Classes, and I've also started on Ali Edward's "One Little Word" class, which is also helping me look at the definition of "choose" and what it means to me, as well as helping me set intentions for the word choose in my life for the next year. I'm really enjoying it and excited about what it's going to mean for the year ahead. 

I'm also going crazy deciding on what soup to pick for soup #2. I am realizing that I have a year of deciding ahead of me and I'm going to need to just choose a soup for this week. That's my kitchen table (really...) covered in open cook books filled with delicious recipes. And I'm hungry, so it makes deciding a lot harder!

Reading:  Lot's of blogs, and lots of articles. I've just discovered the app "flipboard" and it's fabulous. It consolidates all kinds of news/blog/social media/magazine articles and puts them in one place. I have it on my Nook and my cell phone and it's a great way to stay informed. E (or Santa...not sure) got me "A Casual Vacancy" by J.K. Rowling for Christmas and I am excited to start reading it. 

Watching: Not too much TV, all our fave shows are on hiatus from the holidays...we're waiting for HIMYM to come back. 

Listening: To Mumford and Sons in my car. I love their folk-rock sort of sound (and the banjo...and their accents).  That's what's playing in my car on the way in to work, and lots of Kevin and Bean in the mornings when I am driving home (to keep me laughing to stay awake).

Cooking and Baking: Aside from making soups, I'm just cooking dinners. Although I made a yummy crock-pot chicken last night. I used a sauce I had left over from dinner the night before and poured it over the chicken in the morning, turned it on low and went to sleep (I'd just gotten home from work) By 3:00 the chicken was amazingly tender and yummy. The sauce was artichoke and lemon sauce with chardonnay we'd gotten as a gift from Williams Sonoma. It was a great flavor and a delicious way to make the chicken. 

Thinking: About the year ahead and all the things to choose ahead of me. There are changes happening at work, and still lots of adjustments to being married. I'm hoping that my one little word will help me get through it and make positive choices. 

Looking forward: to starting Project Life. I just purchased the Seafoam edition core kit and some page protectors. This is something I thought about last year, but I didn't have the time to put into it. I'm excited to use this as a way to document our first year as a married couple as well as how my OLW starts to evolve and the course of the 52 soup project. It's going to be exciting!

Alright - we're off to go out to dinner. Until next time!
XO

"choose" a new start

One little word to lead me through 2013. It's totally my word. If you've read my posts gearing up for the Christmas holiday celebrations, you already know that I have been trying to apply "choose" or choices to my daily life. I want to choose better. Choose what? EVERYTHING. I should mention that I signed up for Elise's course "i choose"  a few weeks back, and I am taking her approach to "choose" from last year, and using it to apply myself to goals that I set for myself. Monthly, attainable goals that I can choose to work toward. 

So in January, I choose to:
1) Throw myself into the 52 Soup Project and know that when it starts to freak me out and intimidate me, that I NEED to just do it. 

2) Focus more at work. Learn more, read more, apply myself more. I've been a nurse for over a year, and February will mark one year since I've been working on my own. I choose to focus harder on growing in my field.

3) Open myself up to changes and new things. I'm still getting used to being a wife and I need to open my mind and heart up to newness and know that just because things are new, it doesn't mean they are replacing the old. Nothing can replace memories and lessons learned. 

4) Be active. I have a brand new bike and it's not going to do me any good if it's sitting in the garage. I want to choose to ride my bike at least twice a week. I also choose to go out and find a helmet soon. 

5) Stay hydrated. When I really look at my daily fluid intake, about 70% of it is coffee (I also think that half and half is my main dairy source). I need to choose water and tea over coffee a few more times out of my day. 


So there we have it. 5 goals that I know that I can work on, if only I choose to do so. And I'm choosing to start now!

What about you? Are you picking a word for 2013? Are you setting goals for yourself? I'd love to know what you're doing to make 2013 an amazing year!

XO

My One Little Word 2013

Happy New Year's Eve to everyone out there, and thank you for keeping up with me through a year of blogging. I'm ready for 2013 and ready to commit some serious blog time, and time to focus of all the fun stuff that's yet to come.  Speaking of focus... I've decided to commit to a project that will have be focusing on One Little Word.

If you haven't heard of this before, or your sitting here staring at the screen wondering what the heck I am talking about and why I would spend so much time thinking about just one word when I blog using so many...I suggest you take a moment (I promise it won't take long) to check out what this is all about HERE.  Basically, I've decided not to focus on specific resolutions this year. I don't have the attention span to make a decision today that will work for the whole year, but I am focusing on me, my approach to life and all that it has to offer, and doing that they best way that I can. By focusing on one word that might help me act/react/live/be/etc better then 2013 is probably going to be pretty awesome, and I will likely get a lot more accomplished throughout the year that I am proud of, rather than not following through with one or two unrealistic new year's resolutions. 

I had the challenge then of coming up with what word to pick. Other than the little description from Ali Edwards in the link above, the only way I know about this project is through Elise's blog and what she did last year.   I loved how Elise chose the word "choose" to be her little word. And because I have followed her with this word all year, and seen how she posted about it, etc. I totally didn't want to pick this word. I came up with so many other amazing and great words that my life could revolve around, I brainstormed a lot (while riding my new bike) and came up with some good ideas and thoughts like these:

Well - I loved the idea of this word, especially with the new blog title. Focus on doing things WELL: living well, eating well, loving well... now that I write about it maybe I'll change my mind... ;) just kidding.

Faith - This word plays such a big role in my life, it makes total sense that it would be my one little word. A reminder to believe (also another contender), have strength (yup, another one...), and have FAITH in all that I do.

Home - Two months post wedding I have a new home in which I live, and that's totally different for me. Where your heart is and where your family is and where you call home can be many places (I'm learning) and that's been a struggle for me to deal with, so I thought focusing on HOME might be a good one for 2013.

Embrace - There have been a lot of changes in my life lately, and they tend to throw me for a loop sometimes. Focusing on EMBRACE would mean welcoming the changes into my life and dealing with them as they come. 

There were many more thoughts floating around on my head late at night, or at work, while driving, etc. And I fought choose  really hard, I didn't want to pick that. But I went to Elise's blog and read about why she picked this word last year, and I realized (well, I'm pretty sure of it anyway), that CHOOSE chose me this year. It's about choosing how you react to life. Choosing how you approach situations. Choosing what to do with your time and Choosing who you want to be and how you want to get there. 

I felt like with most of the other words I had chosen, they were all a choice. I could choose to live well, I could choose to embrace situations (and hey, maybe there are situations I have to choose to not embrace).  They are all decisions to make and despite how much I fought it in the beginning, for 2013, my one little word is choose. 

I'm not saying I am going to be 100% fabulous about choosing right, I might even choose wrong. But this year I want to focus on how I choose to react to situations in my relationships, how I choose to embrace or not embrace changes that come my way, how I choose to spend my free time (crafts and cooking - and blogging of course!), and how I choose to live well, live happy, live strong, live in faith, live in love, and love my home. 

Wow, that was a lot of words.  

So fellow bloggers - what say you? What do you think of the One Little Word challenge?  Are you going to join me? What word would you choose?

XO

P.S. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!