Determination

I've literally been working on this blog post for the past week. It's not that I don't have anything to say. I do. Lots, in fact. It's just been one of those where-do-I-start kinda things. Plus, I've had the plague since New Years Eve. So, in true bullet list fashion, here goes:

• I am SO excited to be starting a new year! The semester starts in 2 weeks and I'm itching to get back. (Read: trauma junkie) Lots of new projects and adventures to be had. 2013 will be MY year. To focus on me. Getting back in shape, a career shift (Hello, EMS. Goodbye, ER... sorta.), kicking this little blog up a few notches, personal goals and so on. I have to keep telling myself, change is good. Trust yourself.

• Project Life: Yes, I am FINALLY using my Project Life stuff I purchased *cough* two years ago *cough* I will be posting weekly shots and also plan on having some PL goodie giveaways. I downloaded an awesome 8x11 memory logbook from Log Your Memory that is not only your standard 12 month planner but it also has pages for PL planning. Lovelovelove it so far. It's available in two sizes for download, or in print. 

• Project 365: I had started this back in August and had snapped daily photos religiously. I was using only my iPhone and Instagram. When the year was over, I had planned on making a 365 Blurb book. Then my iPhone broke in November and I wasn't eligible for an upgrade until this month. Everything went out the window. Luckily, Santa helped me out and I was gifted a new iPhone 5 for Christmas. So this project is back on. You can find me on Instagram at @jlatini.

• The 101 Project: This was initially started in early August. You can find the original post here. If you're unfamiliar with the 101, it's essentially 101 goals that you'd like to accomplish in 1,001 days. I've been using Day Zero to keep track of the goals that I've already accomplished and those still in progress. Recently I signed up for Elise's Big Picture Class, I Choose. After watching the video she posted I had one of those, 'Duh, that totally makes sense, why didn't I think of that' moments. I'm not gonna give anything away, but if you want to get more goal oriented (And actually succeed) I highly recommend this class. You can find more info about Elise here and the class here. That being said, I know I'm not going to accomplish all 101 goals. That's perfectly okay with me. But I will be determined to check off as many as I can.

• 2013 Pinterest Foodie Challenge: Good God I have a lot of projects going on! This week I will be posting the recipe list for the 2013 Pinterest Foodie Challenge. Please feel free to follow along or create your own. This year I chose 24 new food and drink items I would like to try. I went ahead and scheduled 2 a month in my planner but I think I just might wing it as long as I keep myself in check and make sure said recipes are actually getting made. #YayRunOnSentences

• $1378 Club: Think Christmas Club without the bank. A few of us at work got together and came up with the $1378 club. At the end of each week, you add money to your fund. Week one, you add $1, week two, $2 and so on. So at the end of 52 weeks, you've accumulated $1378. Personally, I'm thinking a 5 night cruise may be in order after that. Had I tried to do this by myself, I would've failed miserably. But now that I've actually got a team to keep me motivated, it just might work. (I've already paid 5 weeks worth!)

So, as you can see, I'll be a busy little bee this year.

And baby, it's gonna be a good one.

The December Daily: Let's Try This Again

If you've been following by blog long enough, you'll remember a post about The December Daily project from Ali Edwards that I was planning on doing last December. You'll also remember that I never finished it (much less started anything substantial) Anyways, I've promised myself that I will finish one this year. I still have all of my supplies and a few new ones I have picked up this year. In the next few days, I'll be sorting everything and then start to work on my foundation pages. If any of you completed yours last year (or didn't quite make it) feel free to post your Flickr links!

My Many Projects

I've had this sketchbook kicking around since last semester and I figured I'd finally put it to good use. I've been doing random collages in it. So far I have the three below. Eventually I think I'm gonna start following The Dares and just do them in here so they're all nice and neat and in one place. (Click on any of the photos to see a larger version.)

The first is a random jumble of current obsessions. You'll find everything from Starbucks, Sephora, my iPod Touch, a bitchin' pair of boots from Journey's and tons of crazy other stuff. I'd say I'm about 80% done with this. I keep finding small items to add.

This second one is all things beauty and mostly cut from my Sephora and Benefit catalogs. I looooove me some Sephora! I'd scale this one at 80% completed as well. I think I'm gonna add some jewels or glitter to really make it girly. Some text will probably get thrown in as well.

This one is pretty much self explanatory. I wreaked havoc on my game informer mags. 70% done. I need to add more pics and find something to go in the bottom left corner.

Initially I was going to lump my Provincetown and whale watch stuff from last August into one but I've got so many good photos that I decided to break it up into two. Or maybe three. Who knows. We'll see how it goes. I'm on the fence about getting another sketch book for my travels or getting a snazzy three ring binder and doing them on 8.5" x 11" paper stuck inside page protectors.

And yes, we really were that close. It was amazing!

And going back even further (I'm a total slacker, I know) I still have all of my goodies from when Dan and I visited MFA last March. We had so much fun and I stayed in the Egyptian section for probably over an hour.

I'd love to go again next time I'm back home.

Lastly, this was started forever ago. Last April or May, maybe. As I completed each task from my 101 Project, I was planning on scrapping a little page on it. These pages are about 6"x9". As you can see they're all still blank.

Never a dull moment. And you know what they say about idle hands...