Just another Wed….

It’s been awhile since I’ve blogged over here at LC.  I had been blogging my running workouts regularly and even my weekly goals…but that seems to have fallen by the wayside.  Not that I don’t still workout or have a weekly goals.  Just that I haven’t been motivated to blog them. I was using my blog to get into the routine of having them every week and then got busy doing them. 🙂

Kids went back to school on Monday.  YAY!!  Not that I don’t enjoy having my kids around for the summer. I do.  But… by the end of August they are wound up and the fighting was escalating.  The girls don’t fight with each other as much as they fight with Dan. Dan is becoming that “little brother pest” that young girls HATE.  lol!  I am not complaining too much though because the girls REALLY look out for Dan.  More so then most kids that age look out for a sibling.

First Day – Jess, Dan, Sam

Dan started Kindergarten this year.

It seems like yesterday when the girls were starting Kindergarten…

If you haven’t checked out DSO in awhile there’s some great BABY Kits up.

And I’m giving this new Nautical kit away on Sept 1 to 6 lucky facebook fans.

Become a Jen Reed Designs fan and automatically be entered to win!

Weekly Goals: Week of 7/11/10

Here is this week’s goals… I didn’t post any goals last week because it was a real short week for me.  I did actually finish up a redo of an old kit last week which had been on the big todo list for a few weeks.  That was good. 🙂

We still have swimming in the morning but the other camps are finished so no driving around like a crazy person.  lol!  Maybe I’ll get some designing in this week.

Business Goals

  • Advertise new kit including sending out a newsletter.
  • Create a mini freebie for my Facebook fanpage. 🙂
  • Start working on August collabs for DSO and SD.

Personal Goals

  • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-Th
  • Create one layout this week for a challenge.  I did a layout this morning for Caryn’s template challenge at DSO and it felt good. 🙂
  • Read for 30 minutes outside every day.

KEEP MAIN GOAL IN MIND THIS WEEK : Design.  Just design. … find a rhythm and design.

This week’s quote…

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them.”

~ George Bernard Shaw

Have a great week!

Weekly Goals: Week of 6/27/10

Here is this week’s goals…  ( my recap of last week’s goals is here for those of you playing along.)

Well since I got soooo many of my goals last week done… I think I’m not going to be so ambitious this week.  sigh…

This week will probably be tough because the girls have camps in the morning and the afternoon so lots of driving around.  That always zaps my concentration.  Hard to get into designing only to have to get up and drive somewhere.

Business Goals

  • Pick Ad for the July DSO challenge.
  • Design the DSO challenge freebie to give away.
  • Design freebie for Bunny’s live interview on July 2.  I may cheat with this one and give away papers I already have done… but… if I do that, I’ll try to design some coordinating elements to go with it.

Personal Goals

  • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-Th
  • Clean something every day for 30 minutes.
  • Read for 30 minutes outside every day.  (already got my reading for today in!)
  • Extra goal – start building a regular routine.  A lot of my goals are actually repeat goals – like the fitness and cleaning… so ultimately I’m looking at creating a pattern with that.

MAIN GOAL –  Design.  Just design. Design… find a rhythm and design.

… last week I said I was going light… this week I’m going REAL light…  I’ll be lucky to get these things done.

This week’s quote…

Goals.

There’s not telling what you can do when you get inspired by them.

There’s no telling what you can do when you believe in them.

There’s no telling what will happen when you act upon them.

~ Jim Rohn

Have a great week!

Weekly Goals Review: Week of 6/21/10

This was my goal list for last week…

Business Goals

  • Design time – hoping to design 6 hours this week.  🙂  That might be 3 days of 2 hours… or one day of 6 hours…
    NO. I didn’t design at all this past week.  The camp schedule has shot my mornings completely.  I ended up focusing on getting my design blog knocked out.  So I did accomplish something just not any new designing.
  • I have some papers already done in a new palette and would like to get some elements together so I can release a mini-page kit.
    NO. I didn’t get to this either.  But after hearing about Bunny’s LIVE interview this coming Friday, I may end up giving these papers away as a freebie and then put some coordinating elements in the store.  Not sure yet.
  • Work on my design blog some.  Don’t think I’ll have a design done…. but if I can get a rough format together with all the plugins and basic theme, I’ll be happy.
    DONE.  I wasn’t planning on focusing entirely on this project but it just happened.  I ended up spending most of yesterday tweaking and moving/editing Libracorn posts to my new design blog.  So this is actually finished and where I spent a good chunk of my “work” time this week.  I probably spent 20 some hours total working on the blog this week. Got on a roll and went with it. I could have taken an easier route and went with blogger or something like that.  But I actually do like working with wordpress and getting into the code.
  • Start putting together my July DSO challenge which includes picking the Ad (going to be running an Ad challenge) and creating a freebie.
    NO. This will be moved to this week.  I have to get this done this week as the Challenge starts Friday.  LOL!
  • Extra goal – I see this as an added bonus – a would be nice if I could get this in goal.  Create a July 4th palette and design/stock a mini page kit.
    ROFLOL…. Let’s just say that…

Personal Goals

  • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-F
    DONE. Still on track.  woo hoo!
  • Do 30 minutes of aerobic walking on T-Th (going to keep this here – we’ll see how this one goes)
    SORT OF. I walked on Tuesday and then made the decision to not walk on these days as my shins were starting to bother me.  I didn’t want to push them too hard so that I couldn’t do the running days.  So I’m removing this from my goals for now.
  • Clean something every day for 30 minutes.
    SORT OF.   I did this for 2 of the days this past week (30 min cleaning spurts).   The main cleaning this week was Jess’s room.  I spent an entire afternoon cleaning her room on Thursday (or maybe it was Wed).  So I feel like I did actually accomplish this goal just in a round about way.  Getting Jess’s room under control was a big project.  Eventually I might get into Dan’s room.
  • Extra goal – start building a regular routine.  A lot of my goals are actually repeat goals – like the fitness and cleaning… so ultimately I’m looking at creating a pattern with that.
    DONE. Starting to find a pattern to my days.  Still working towards that balance.

MAIN GOAL – Keep my focus when I’m in “work mode”.  I think this was a problem for me last week.  Got caught up in other things when I had my work time and did not get reach most of my business goals.

I think I did stay focused when I was in work mode… just not on designing.  I basically put everything into getting my design blog up and running.  I also put up a Facebook fan page and tied it into my design blog which took some time.  I feel like I have built a decent infrastructure (store, blog, facebook page) and will start putting my main focus on designing again.

Overall I did have a productive week… just not balanced.  My focus was on big projects and I was able to get them out of the way.  I feel good about that. 🙂


Weekly Goals: Week of 6/21/10

Here is this week’s goals…  ( my recap of last week’s goals is here.)

Going to try and work this keeping in mind that kids will be in camp for 2 hours in the morning – and I will driving to-from during this time.   Too many goals in one week creates too many things not accomplished and a horrible feeling at the end of the week.  Not going to do that to myself. 🙂

Business Goals

  • Design time – hoping to design 6 hours this week.  🙂  That might be 3 days of 2 hours… or one day of 6 hours…
  • I have some papers already done in a new palette and would like to get some elements together so I can release a mini-page kit.
  • Work on my design blog some.  Don’t think I’ll have a design done…. but if I can get a rough format together with all the plugins and basic theme, I’ll be happy.
  • Start putting together my July DSO challenge which includes picking the Ad (going to be running an Ad challenge) and creating a freebie.
  • Extra goal – I see this as an added bonus – a would be nice if I could get this in goal.  Create a July 4th palette and design/stock a mini page kit.

Personal Goals

  • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-F
  • Do 30 minutes of aerobic walking on T-Th (going to keep this here – we’ll see how this one goes)
  • Clean something every day for 30 minutes.
  • Extra goal – start building a regular routine.  A lot of my goals are actually repeat goals – like the fitness and cleaning… so ultimately I’m looking at creating a pattern with that.

MAIN GOAL – Keep my focus when I’m in “work mode”.  I think this was a problem for me last week.  Got caught up in other things when I had my work time and did not get reach most of my business goals.

… and I said that I was going to go light… LOL!  There is always so much I want to do.  But I seriously think having some goals and trying to accomplish them every week is a great thing for me personally.  I’m definitely one of those “make a list and cross things off” people.  I find myself feeling so much better about life in general when I feel a little sense of accomplishment day to day.  But I’m also learning not to stress myself out if I don’t reach all my goals for the week.  I am trying to use these goals to help me feel good about myself and the direction my life is heading.

Wishing, hoping, pouting isn’t going to get me where I want to be.  And I’m learning that where I want to be isn’t a set destination but more a journey towards every day happiness.

I leave you with this week’s quote…

Most people who fail in their dreams fail not from lack of ability but from lack of commitment.  ~ Zig Ziglar

Have a great week!

Weekly Goals Review: Week of 6/14/10

This was my goal list for last week…

Business Goals

  • Biggest goal – to get back into the swing of designing again. I’m still making this a priority goal.  I did okay last week but need to keep this front and center as a goal. :) I’m trying to get at least 3 days of active designing in somewhere… hoping that will be a 5 day thing down the road.
    SORT OF – Still working on this one.  Didn’t get 3 days of designing in this week – only one.  I am really trying to make this a priority.
  • Rework, refresh and stock 2 of my oldies.
    SORT OF – Got one oldie reworked and stocked.  I did get my Pick Ur Bits paper pack previewed and uploaded.  So I got two products uploaded… but only one oldie refreshed..
  • Break out my design stuff from my personal blog.  At least I’d like to have the new blog installed and design things moved over.
    SORT OF – I got the blog installed at least.  But didn’t get farther than that. 🙁

Personal Goals

  • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-F
    DONE!
  • Do 30 minutes of aerobic walking on T-Th (we’ll see how this one goes)
    NOPE
  • Sit outside for an hour every day and read.  I’d like to finish the ChiWalking book. This one might be easier since I’ll get some time during swimming lessons to sit out and read.
    SORT OF – Some days rained and I didn’t get outside.  I also only got halfway through ChiWalking.
  • Clean something every day for 30 minutes.
    SORT OF – I did this two of the 5 days.  LOL!
  • Work more on Dan’s room.
    NOPE

    Hmm… only one blue goal this past week… This week was the first week of camp… and next week we’ll have double sessions in the morning.  I think for my goals this week, I need to keep that into consideration.  Basically my mornings for the most part are shot.  I did blog this week and do my running so I stayed on track with those things.   I think I also lost some focus on the afternoons that I was able to work on designing.  I’ll have to be better about this coming week.

    Weekly Goals: Week of 6/14/10

    Here is this week’s goals…  ( my recap of last week’s goals is here.)

    Business Goals

    • Biggest goal – to get back into the swing of designing again. I’m still making this a priority goal.  I did okay last week but need to keep this front and center as a goal. 🙂  I’m trying to get at least 3 days of active designing in somewhere… hoping that will be a 5 day thing down the road.
    • Rework, refresh and stock 2 of my oldies.
    • Break out my design stuff from my personal blog.  At least I’d like to have the new blog installed and design things moved over. 🙂

    Personal Goals

    • Stay on track with my cool running – M-W-F
    • Do 30 minutes of aerobic walking on T-Th (we’ll see how this one goes)
    • Sit outside for an hour every day and read.  I’d like to finish the ChiWalking book. This one might be easier since I’ll get some time during swimming lessons to sit out and read.
    • Clean something every day for 30 minutes.
    • Work more on Dan’s room.

    I’m hoping to build up a lot of these goals into a regular daily routine.  Design every day, clean some every day, work out for 20-30 min every day… etc.

    If you keep your goals online too, drop me a comment and link to your blog. 🙂 Inspiration all around…

    Have a great week!

    Weekly Goals Review: Week of 6/7/10

    I’m going to try – try I said – to keep up with doing a review of the goals I set for the last week.  I did pretty well this past week actually.

    This was my goal list for last week…

    • Biggest goal – to get back into the swing of designing again.  I have been gone from the digiscrap industry for 3 years now.  My last release under my own name was back in 2007 and prior to that I didn’t release a lot of things (always wrapped up in the backend technical admin of various sites).  So just DESIGNING… is going to be my biggest goal for awhile.
      DONE – I’m excited to say I met this goal.  I was able to design 3 days of the week.  That’s a great step for me actually.  My eventual plan is try and design some every day… but for now 3 days was a great accomplishment. 🙂
    • Blogging regularly – I actually created a weekly blogging calendar for myself. lol!  Maybe that will kick me in the ass to blog more. I was never a very good blogger so this is a bit scary.  lol!
      DONE – I actually met this one too… WOO HOO!!!!
    • Finalizing my own store site – I am almost there with this one.  Have some finishing things I need to tweak before I go live with the site.
      DONE –  I got my store up!  I had actually been working on this on and off for the last two weeks… but it needed some final tweaking and testing before I put it out live.  I’m sure there are little things that still need to be tweaked and maybe things that are off a bit… but I’m happy with how it is starting off.  Oh… and I do need to get some products stocked.  LOL!

    This weeks personal goals

    • Keep up with the cool running program. 20 minutes. M – W -F
      DONE – I was able to stay with this for M-W-F.  I think I may walk on T and Th just not do the running part.  Maybe more of an aerobic walk.
    • Start lifting weights again. 20 minutes. T-Th
      NOPE – I didn’t do this part.  I think maybe this will come after I get my walking more regular.  I was afraid I’d be sore and jinx my walking… so I’m going to put this on hold.
    • Do the Creativity Boot Camp every day.  My intention is to release whatever I design as a freebie. I *really* want to do this.
      NOPE – I did the first two days of this and then from there it went downhill.  Not because I didn’t make time… but because the bootcamp turned out to be geared mostly for photographers.  The prompts weren’t all that inspiring to me.  So I consciously made the choice to not do this and spent that time designing for the DSO July Pick Ur Bits.
    • Sit outside for an hour every day and read.  I’d like to finish the ChiRunning/ChiWalking books.
      DONE – I wasn’t able to sit outside every day because it rained 3 of the days this week.  lol!  But I did make it outside the days it didn’t rain for an hour and finished the ChiWalking book.  I plan on reading the ChiRunning next week.
    • Clean one of my kids rooms.  Last week I did Sam’s.  This week I should get into Dan’s. It’s a complete disaster!
      SORT OF – I didn’t get into Dan’s room all the way like I wanted to. But I did have the kids pull out all the clothes that don’t fit anymore.  So two bags of clothes were donated this week.  A little progress…

    And this is my horoscope for today.

    You might believe that changing your attitude is all that’s necessary now, but unfortunately breaking free from old habits is not that straightforward. Your current responsibilities could require hard physical work, too. Today’s New Moon in your 6th House of Details indicates that you will be more successful if you take many small steps instead of trying to reach the summit in one big leap.

    I think it rings true for me.  I’m trying to break some old habits and get back into enjoying my little daily successes.  Small steps every day this past week have put me on track for my new journey.  It’s not about the destination for me… it’s about the journey and the little steps I’m taking along the path.  Yeah… mushy… I know even for me.  But I’ve come from such a dark place it’s time to be more positive again even if that means mushy.

    Random Wednesday Thoughts

    Random Wednesday….

    • I’ve been disappointed in Day 2 and Day 3 of the Creative Bootcamp.  Day 2 was Picnic and Day 3 was Multilayered.  Neither word inspires me.  I suppose I could do some papers with the picnic theme…. maybe I’ll try that… just do 1-2 freebie picnic’ish papers.
    • I really didn’t want to walk/run my 20 minutes today.  How sad is that?  It’s only the second day.  Lol!  I did though so I can cross that off my TODO today.
    • I’ve already accomplished a few items on my goal list for this week… one was to design more and I designed both Monday and Tuesday.  The other was to blog more and I’ve put up some kind of post all three days this week.  The other business goal was to work on my store site which I haven’t gotten to yet.  I’ll probably work on that today so I can get that off my list.
    • Other items on my todo for today were not on my goals list but I really need to do.  One is register the kids for school next year.  The school already called last week about Dan’s placement.  I should just go do that… but it requires a trip to the district office to turn in forms.  The other thing I really need to do is pay the bills.  It usually doesn’t take long – most of our bills are autopaid.  But I balance the checkbook every month and enter everything into quicken.  Some months I’m better than others and do some light entry one or two of the Saturdays.  I don’t think I did that this past month… so this will be an hour or two…

    So my ToDo list today is small but not fun… 4 items (register school, pay bills, get a kit stocked and work on the store site…)  Not seeing much time for designing. Maybe if I knock out those two items this morning with some focus I can design this afternoon.  🙂

    Okay… Off to shower….

    Weekly Goals: Week of 6/7/10

    Well it must be a sign… I’ve always been into astrology and signs… lol!  I’ve now had three “goal setting” kick in the asses in a period of 20 minutes so I thought okay… I’ll start posting my goals too.

    This weeks business goals

    • Biggest goal – to get back into the swing of designing again.  I have been gone from the digiscrap industry for 3 years now.  My last release under my own name was back in 2007 and prior to that I didn’t release a lot of things (always wrapped up in the backend technical admin of various sites).  So just DESIGNING… is going to be my biggest goal for awhile.
    • Blogging regularly – I actually created a weekly blogging calendar for myself. lol!  Maybe that will kick me in the ass to blog more. I was never a very good blogger so this is a bit scary.  lol!
    • Finalizing my own store site – I am almost there with this one.  Have some finishing things I need to tweak before I go live with the site.

    This weeks personal goals

    • Keep up with the cool running program. 20 minutes. M – W -F
    • Start lifting weights again. 20 minutes. T-Th
    • Do the Creativity Boot Camp every day.  My intention is to release whatever I design as a freebie. I *really* want to do this.
    • Sit outside for an hour every day and read.  I’d like to finish the ChiRunning/ChiWalking books.
    • Clean one of my kids rooms.  Last week I did Sam’s.  This week I should get into Dan’s. It’s a complete disaster!

    I do have more on my ToDo list.. LOL!  The list is always long… but I think if I put out my more immediate goals – ones that can start developing a routine/pattern the other ones will fall into place.