More than Halfways through the Year...Goal Progress

What a year so far? I honestly, as with every year, had such high hopes for 2015. When I wrote my goal post I don't think I had any idea what I was in for in the coming months no matter how manageable my goals might have been. Little did I know that two and a half months in I would end up having surgery that pretty much affected my life until the end of June. So, with that being said, I haven't made much progress with my 2015 goals.

What I wanted to accomplish and hopefully still can:

Do a weekly RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS.

I wouldn't say every week but I'm working on it.

Get back in shape with LOW IMPACT EXERCISE

Well, I would say since I finally have been released from PT and am back on a workout schedule that I am getting back in shape. I really couldn't make any headway with this goal until after June.

READ.

I started off the year so well and then when I had my surgery I would fall asleep every time I read, so now I'm super behind on my reading goals.

SIMPLIFY.

TRAVEL.
We went to Williamsburg and hopefully NYC in the fall but that's it. We need to save money for a house.

BLOG.

Let's say I didn't really work on this until the beginning of the month. Hopefully, I have made it a habit.

ORGANIZE the apartment.
Working on it...

Save money and BUY A HOUSE.
In the pre-approval process!!

Be HEALTHY.

Spend more time with FRIENDS and FAMILY.

Let's just say I have a lot of work to do still but I'm making progress now that I'm up and moving around!

In 2015, I will...

Honestly, I'm happy to say goodbye to 2014. Yes, I went on an absolutely fabulous honeymoon cruise and got an amazing new job but everything was overshadowed by the almost five months I spent wearing a knee brace, receiving physical therapy and other treatments and visiting UPMC Sports Medicine too many times. My knee and further treatment are in limbo right now but that's another post for another day. So, 2015 I'm more than happy to welcome you today!

Here's to 2015 and some accomplishable goals (a few repeats from 2014):

Do a weekly RANDOM ACT OF KINDNESS.

Sometimes I feel like I get to caught up in myself and I forget to think about others. In 2015, I want to be a better person and do simple random acts of kindness for others.

Get back in shape with LOW IMPACT EXERCISE

Due to my knee injury, I haven't been able to do much the last few weeks. In the New Year, I have developed a work out schedule to get back in shape by doing all low impact workouts - swimming, cycling, roller blading, ellipitcal, etc.

(Pinterest)

READ.

I've already made a list of 28 books that I want to read this year, in addition to the book club titles. I met my goal last year, so I'm confident I can get some great reads in this year.

SIMPLIFY.

TRAVEL.
This year, we are hoping to take a trip to Williamsburg in the spring, New York City in the summer and Montreal in the fall.

BLOG.

Obviously I never make this goal and my blog goes neglected for months. That's changing today.

ORGANIZE the apartment.
This was one of my goals two years ago. Well, we are still in the same apartment, so it needs done again and I want to be prepared to move easier.

Save money and BUY A HOUSE.

Be HEALTHY.

Spend more time with FRIENDS and FAMILY.

Well, goodbye 2014. Take the knee brace with you! Looking forward to a happy and healthy (sinus infection free) 2015!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Map Art

When we went through my grandparents books before selling their house, I found an old atlas from the 1970's. I kept it because it was vintage and I thought maybe one day I could use it for something. These were the days before Pinterest.

Jump ahead 10 plus years and I rediscovered the atlas as I was organizing our office. The atlas has become my new project. We have the ugliest white walls in our apartment and it is my goal to add something to them. With a wedding very soon, we have no money for real art either.

Solution - frame a few of the maps and hang them in the hallway. Simple and affordable. Dennis and I each chose two countries. He chose England and Germany, two countries his family is from. I chose Scotland and Japan since my grandpa's family is from Scotland and I love Japan (one day I will go there).

So, here is my slightly crooked map art in our hallway...

After I did this, I pinned some great ways to use old maps. I love the idea of using maps as wrapping paper or decoupaging it onto furniture. So many possibilities for my old atlas! 

Postcard Pinterest Project

My mom collected postcards when she was a child and teenager that people had sent her from their travels.  She received a good amount from family, friends and colleagues of my Grandpa, who worked in the trade department at Mellon Bank and was always receiving postcards from his coworker's international travels.  Somewhere along the line, the green box full of postcards became mine.  When I was younger, I loved looking at the different postcards, especially the ones my grandparents brought back from their trip to Switzerland and the ones from places I had been and how different these destinations look 20 and 30 years later.  The green box has travelled with me to my different apartments but for the first time, I have had the desire to share this collection.  No one sees it in a box.  I want it to become art.

 

Step in Pinterest.  I found this a few months ago on Pinterest and I think I'm going to try and make it this weekend, so I'll have to post the follow-up pictures next week.

 

(How About Orange Blog)

 

There is a great place to hang it in the hallway of our apartment.  I also have an old atlas from my grandparents that I always wanted to frame some of the maps.  Dennis and I each chose three countries, so I'm going to hang those on the other part of the hallway.  Then it will be an interesting walk back to the bedrooms and bathroom!

 

Check back next week for updates on my project!



New Entry Way Art

The white walls in our apartment are killing me.  My creative personality craves color or artwork or anything to fill the ugly white void.

Enter Pinterest and a wealth of affordable DIY ideas for making the apartment walls an interesting canvas for the imagination.

A few weeks ago I found some great chevron canvases on Pinterest.  It didn't look to difficult and I thought I could easily master painting those.

Canvas isn't cheap, so I read in another blog that the writer had used shoebox lids instead.  Meg will be the first to tell you that I have a horrible shoe collection, which means no shoe boxes.

I liked the idea though of recycling old boxes.  Plan B came into mind when I decided to reorganize our board games.  I hate the games just laying around under the bookcase or in the closet.

Yes, I am always working on multiple projects or at least thinking about them.  I decided to put all of the game pieces is large Ziploc baggies and organize them all in a fabric bin allowing plenty of boxes.

Now that I had my boxes I was all set.  First, I painted the boxes black.  I wanted to stick the simple color scheme in our living room.  Black with purple and blue accents.

Most of the boxes worked well but for some reason Scrabble would not cooperate.  I tried waiting and painting another coat but to no avail.  Finally, I sanded it and after a few coats it worked.

Then I used masking tape to make chevron stripes.  This was not easy.  I even tried measuring with the ruler but the chevron still was not perfect enough for my liking.

I dealt with it but just made other designs on the bigger boxes.  It all worked out I think.  I think seven boxes in chevron might have been too much.

Then I arranged them how I wanted them to hang.  They actually look pretty cool together and I tried to overlook the imperfections.

Right now, they are hanging on nails in the wall but I don't think they are going to stay well.  I might need to add some double-sided tape or something.

It added a little color to the room.  It's a start.  Plus I really like the idea that I did it myself.  It has a story then.  The chevron, which Dennis calls Charlie Brown, gives a nice pop too.

Here is the finished space.  I know its uneven.  They are sliding on the nails, so that's why I really need to figure out double-sided tape.