reading in 2012

Last year I set a goal, on Goodreads, to read 100 books in 2011 and I was 18 books shy of reaching it.

This year I decided to make my goal more attainable, a put it at 50 books in 2012.

I hit my goal of 50 books in late July and decided to bump my goal up to 75 books in 2012.  Today, I finished reading my 75 book this year :)

Since it's December 1, I don't think I am going to get wicked ambitious and set my goal any higher.  I am going to be happy that I met goal and initially exceeded my original goal.

Here are the books that I have read so far this year.

My guess is that I will probably read about 5 more before the year is over (because I am totally hooked on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple series and want to finish it).

Reading is my favorite.

Have you read any good books lately?

xo

janel

thursday night thoughts.

**

*  I watched the season finale of "Flipping Out" (on Bravo) and cried hysterically for over 30 minutes.  That hasn't happened since I saw Gran Torino.  I think sometimes you really just need a good cry.

*  There are some new things on my horizon that I am really excited about.  I have really been looking for another creative outlet and I'm super happy to have found one.

*  Amelia pulled herself up last night on her baby gate, then stood there for about 25 minutes squealing, and laughing and being so proud of herself.  She is so big.  I no longer have a baby, I have big girl.

*  Today I went through my Bloglovin' reader and deleted over 50 blogs.  It's sad to say but a lot of the blogs that I loved at one time feel like they are only full of sponsored posts and product reviews and nothing relevant to me anymore.  Don't get me wrong, I am super happy for them and the fact that they are making crazy money off of their blog and getting free goods, but I miss reading the "real" stuff.

*  We went to Bass Pro Shop last night to get Amelia's photo taken with Santa.  It's free and the set-up is way prettier than the one at the mall that costs $40 to do.  It was cute and I love that I have this photo of her first Santa.  She wore the sweetest vintage red velvet dress.  

*  I have absolutely no idea what I am getting anyone for Christmas.  I have no ideas at all.  I even created one of those Secret boards on Pinterest, haven't pinned a single thing to it.

*  Did you know that Paul McCartney wrote "Blackbird" when he heard about all of the crazy things happening with the Civil Rights movement here in the United States in the 60's.  "I wrote it in the '60s, when the civil rights movement was at its height," he said. "I liked to think of a blackbird as being a kind of symbol for a black woman."

When he told us about it at the concert, it made my heart swell with love for this man. Now every time I hear the song, I feel a whole new meaning behind it and I cry every time.  If you know me, you know I would have been a total civil rights activist in the 60's.  It's something I am super passionate about.

*  Did you see the moon tonight?  Oh my goodness.

Alright, I need to get back to  a little project over here.  I just needed to get some thoughts out of my head, and onto my computer screen :)

Thank you!

xo

janel

wrapped.

This week I:

*  was so inspired by the above illustration

*  Introduced my new online art journal class!!!  Sparkle With Love: What's Your Season?

*  have been working on said journal a lot so I can have a sneak peek post ready for you all!

*  got to spend the day with my art teacher ladies (they are the best)

*  celebrated having Amelia in our lives for 6 months.

*  started my third Project Life Volume for 2012. (can you believe this year is already 2/3 of the way over)?

*  wrote a ton of pen pal letters.

* was pretty relaxed and enjoyed spending all of my free time with my family.

xo

janel

wrapped.

**

This week I:

*  have been making a TON of cute decorations for my sweet niece's first birthday.

*  was counting down the days until I get to see Adam's mom, sister, and niece.  We get to spend a whole week with them next week!!!

*  worked on making my classroom ready for school next week.

*  received so many amazing pen pal letters from my new pen pals

*  cleaned like crazy

*   painted with my baby girl

*  had a great day at the zoo with family and friends.  Man oh man, did Amelia love the zoo so much.  She squealed and laughed the whole time on the train ride and during the sea lion show.  I love it.

*  went to some adorable little shops in Kirkwood

*  Found

*  Moonbeams

*  ate on The Hill at Guidos

*  had dessert at the cutest little bakery called "Pint Sized Bakery"

Seriously, the best week :)

Back to reality next week!!

xo

janel

wrapped.

This week:

*  My sweet friend, Dawn, made Amelia this amazing blanket and Amelia hasn't stopped snuggling with it since.

*  I went up to school to work in my classroom and I am feeling overwhelmed with everything that I want to get done in there before school starts.

*  Amelia turned 5 months old!

*  I have written a bazillion pen pal letters and have loved every second of it.

*  We had an amazing meeting with our social worker

*  Adam found us an attorney for Amelia's adoption finalization in November

*  I knitted some more.

*  I have read 3 more books

*  I have watched The Olympics (A LOT)

*  I was very thankful for the rain

* Attended a City Council meeting that made me sad.

*  I will continue to focus on God's plan.

This was a great week.

One more week left of summer vacation (sad face)

xo

janel

wrapped

**

This Week I:

*  was featured on Apartment Therapy

*  made two different embroidery pieces for two adorable friends

*  continued to knit up Adam's fall scarf

*  completely re-did my dad's studio space

*  built a shelving unit in the toy-room at my parent's house

*  started using fountain pens again

*  decided I wanted a pen-pal (seriously, who wants to be my pen-pal?)

*  watched the first episode of "I'm Having Their Baby"

*  spent so much time just loving on Amelia

* had a sleepover with my mom, Amelia, my sister and Jack at my sister's house

*  made baby food!

* realized that I only have two more full weeks left of summer break (sad face)

*  bought a LOT of school supplies
* watched the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics.

a lovely week was had.

xo

janel

book worm.

Last year, I was 18 books shy of my 100 books in 2011 goal on Goodreads.

This year, I decided to reduce my goal to 50 books in 2012 so that I knew I could accomplish it for sure.

I just checked in with my goal page and realized that I am already at 56 books for 2012!!

Sweet!

Here is what I have read so far:

So much chick lit!!  I am actually pretty surprised at that :)  I think with all of the stress that we had in the beginning half of this year, fun and light reading was just what I needed.  I am officially bumping up my goal to 75 books in 2012 and we will go from there.

What are some of your favorite books or series?  I would love to add some more books to my "must-read" list!!

xo

janel

wrapped

**

This week:

*  I had an amazing time teaching crafts at VBS. I worked with a ton of great friends and a lot of sweet sweet kiddos.  

*  Amelia is eating her sweet potatoes like a champ.  

*  I got a ton of washi tape that I ordered from Freckled Fawn

*  I also scored some adorable little vintage things for Amelia from the CUTEST pop-up shop ever.

*  my heart is saddened by this.  please pray for everyone involved in this horrible tragedy.

*  I got two spend two whole afternoons with my sister and Jack.  That, on the other hand, makes my heart very happy.

*  I decorated my mom's bedroom for her.

*  I painted like crazy, and I loved every second of it.

*  I crocheted a scarf

*  I began knitting another scarf

*  I started brainstorming ideas on how to re-decorate our little home.

*  I focused on the fact that God is so good.

This week was FULL, in the best sense of the word. 

xo

janel

a manifesto.

Ali Edwards issued a challenge to create a Summer Manifesto for 2012.  I love lists and I love goals so a manifesto was a perfect idea.

Adam and I talked about some "must-do's" for our summer together.

We wanted to make sure that they were things that we knew we could very well accomplish.

Here is our manifesto...

I can't wait to have our first summer with a baby :)  There are so many fun family oriented things that I want to do.  This little manifesto will be something that we hang on our refrigerator to keep us on track!!  Do any of you have a cute way that you list your summer goals??

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

as of late.

1.  I am still doing Project Life, and loving it tremendously, but I can't share my pages with you right now.  They will come though :)

2.  Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day!! Yay!!

This is one of the first years I have actually been home for the holiday.  Adam and I got married on a cruise during the week of St. Patrick's Day, three years ago, so we were actually in Belize on the 17th and then for 3 straight years prior to that I was on mission trips to Reynosa, Mexico.  The year before that, I went on a trip to Louisianna and Mississippi to help out with the Hurricane Katrina Relief.  

3.  Adam's parents are in town!! Yay!!  They are spending the weekend in St. Louis with us and we could not be more excited.  We love them so much and are so blessed to have this time with them.

4.  It has been in the 90's this week.  It's crazy and I am totally ok with that.

5.  I started sewing a pillow case dollhouse this week.  I need to take photos.

6.  The Hunger Games is coming out next week!!!!!!! Oh my golly!!!

7.  Also, Mad Men comes back next week.

8.  This week has been so lovely.  Adam and I have taken lots of walks, read a lot of books and sung a lot of goofy songs together. It is so nice being off together.

9.  School is seriously almost over for the year.  I can't believe it at all.  It seems like April and May just zoom by and I can't wait for the summer.  Can.not.wait.

10.  Next month, I am offering free ad spaces in honor of my 32nd birthday!!!  I will accept ads until the end of this weekend so if you are interested, email me :)

love you!

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

Things I Want to Make...

You may not know this but at one time, I was quite the tennis player :) I can now bring two of my loves together with this adorable project.

**

I love this for my classroom door because I do a lot with recycled art, and especially magazines.

**

I love this rug, like a LOT!

**

My friend Sarah made one of these pillows at our Pinterest Party and I LOVED it!!  I already have everything that I need to make it, I now just need to do it!!

**

And I love cacti but I love a crocheted one even more!!  I want to try to make something like this for sure :)

**

I will be sure to document all of these projects as I do them, if I do them when I do them.

I am excited to get back into craft mode!!

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

Baby Stuff

I know I have said it before and I will say it again, whenever I am in "saving money" mode

I find just about a million things I want to buy.

Here is my "If money was no object, I would totally buy Amelia this" List.

1.  Tiny Toms :) In like every possible style but definitely the gold sparkles.

We could match.

2.  this onesie (OMG)!!  One of little miss Amelia's namesakes.

3.  and these are all so awesome!

4.  It's sad that I don't even know what this is but it had Star Wars in the title so I think Adam would love it and it's super cute.

5. Ok these little bloomers...precious!!!

6.  I will never stop loving this baby quilt.

7.  and my goodness, this adorable cloud pillow

And I am sure there are many many more things :) 

This is what I do while I wait for this baby, I look at pretty baby things!!!

torture.

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

snow

Last night (or early morning) marked our very first snow of the year.  It's technically the first "real" snow of the season.  Man how I was hoping for a snow day :)  It all worked out. 

Also,  your comments on my last post were SO encouraging and helpful and they all made me smile too.  Thank you so much!

Anyway, this week has been really nice so far.  

This week has consisted of:

* project life (obsessed)

* reading

*  painting spoons

*  sewing curtains

*  cutting quilt squares

* organizing books

* snuggling chihuahuas

*  teaching about Charley Harper

*  clay projects with fifth graders

*  stuffy noses

* lots of kleenex

*  The Bachelor

*  Project Runway Allstars (tonight)

*  the cutting down of my FAVORITE tree :(

*  and wonderful conversations with friends

Praise God for it all.

Alright I need to make food and get ready for Project Runway Allstars!!  Does anyone else feel like it's just not the same without Tim Gunn?  

Goodnight!

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

today...

**

1. I made a cute photo to put into our Christmas cards this year with Instagrams.  

2.  I like the "love" stamps more than the "Holiday" stamps this year.

3.  Presents are all wrapped and taking over our living room (we have all of my parent's presents at our house too)

4.  Baby fever is consuming all of my thoughts.

5.  We took a  little re-upholstery hiatus until the foam went on sale at JoAnn's and I will hopefully be finishing up the chair this weekend :)

6. Our quilt that we made with Faith Ringgold is hanging at a local gallery and I got to see it finished yesterday.

It's Wednesday!  I get to hang with my sister tonight.  

life is good :)

xo

janel

P.S. Don't forget to vote :) All it takes it two little clicks.

this weekend...

This weekend is for:

* getting the last of our financial paper work to finish our home study

*  a vet appointment for Catalina

*  garage sales

*  Target

*  music

* sewing

* reading A Monstrous Regiment of Women

*  spending time with my mom before she leaves for Europe (for 17 days)

*  starting my fall journal (it's sooo almost fall so Im starting on it now)

* shipping out orders

What are your plans for this weekend?

Here's to lots of fun :)

xo

janel

so far...

Remember this little project list for July?

Here is what I have accomplished so far:

1.  This cute little art piece with a heart around Adam's city in Massachusetts and a heart around my city in Missouri. love it.

2.  This is my favorite.  These are keys from the two places Adam and I have lived together so far.  We will hopefully be adding another one to it real soon!!

Does anyone want to send me some drift wood for the mobile?  There is like NONE in St. Louis and I love the look of it better than just plain old sticks :)  That is the next project I want to tackle.  

I also got super crafty with my aunt and sister the other day.  We made tons of enameled earrings together.  Check back for a post on that later but for now, here is a little peek:

Alright, I am off to church!

Have a great day friends.

xo

janel