My Inspiration Board

I got my first bullentin board in Jr. High...I think it was a gift from my Mom. I LOVED it!! Throughout high school it served as a home to my huge button collection. Today it hangs in our office space and is filled with photos and drawings from my kids. Every time I see it it's a blast from the past!!

Here is my studio bullentin board or as I call it my Inspiration Board...it makes me sooooo happy!!

This hangs right behind my counter where I do most of my work.

Anything that inspires is on my board....those stickers were a freebie I got in the mail. Not only do the WORDS inspire me but the colors, too!! That glittery butterfly is a Christmas ornament from Wal-Mart I just had to have!!!

My Board is filled with notes from friends, poems, hand-made tags and a photo of my parents. I lost my Dad in June of 1996...I miss him so much!!!

See that photo of my son in red?? The reason that's on my Inspiration Board is because that picture reminds me to be BRAVE! You see my son Jacks was just in 6th grade here. He wasn't very popular and was having a very hard time in school. He LOVED magic and decided to do a magic act for the all-school talent show. He practiced and practiced till he got it right. I still remember how he got out there on stage in front of his peers...the ones that had been making fun of him all year...and performed a flawless trick!! He was my hero that day!!!

The silver keychain at the bottom was a gift from one of my Blog readers...Maggie from Vegas. It says "Fly Anyway".

Another close-up...I have always wanted to create this photo frame....it hangs here as a reminder to get it done...I am thinking of a Christmas gift....

A final image shows my first art journaling page on the right and a drawing from when I was in high school of Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty.

As different things motivate me I change my board periodically.

Many of YOU have been on my board before....YOU and YOUR work continue to lift me up and challenge me to keep on creating!!!

Do YOU have an Inspiration Board?? Please share!!!

Words of Me Art Journal Challenge~2012

Save the date and join me for 6 weeks of WORD fun!! Starting Monday, October 1st stop by Words of Me Project for your Weekly Word, inspiring quotes and more!!

You see The Words of Me Art Journal Challenge is more than an art challenge...it's a life challenge! See on the top of my blog where it says..."Living an inspired life~one story, one quote, one words at a time"?

For the next 6 weeks not only are we going to be inspired by the Word of the Week to create a piece of art...but we are going to be inspired to create our life  more the way we want it. 

Here's an example...

Let's say the Word of the Week is BRAVE. We could make Brave inspired canvas's, jewelry, girls, journal pages, etc. Whatever our hearts desired. I would be sure and share plenty of Brave-themed quotes and ideas throughout the week to keep you thinking all things Brave....


“Expose yourself to your deepest fear; after that, fear has no power, and the fear of freedom shrinks and vanishes. You are free.”- Jim Morrison


“you can, you should, and if you’re brave enough to start, you will.”-Stephen King


I will share stories of how the Word has affected my life and ways it inspired me to be a better me. You will get the chance to share, too in our Facebook forum...Mind Body Soul.

Are you ready to learn and grow and become exceptional? 

 If you love to...

*art journal
*paint
*doodle
*connect with others
*learn more about yourself
*Push yourself
*collage
*share

then this Challenge is just right for you!!!

It's FREE!
It's Fun!!
It starts Monday, October 1st!!!



Grab a button for your blog and tell all your friends!!!! {I would REALLY appreciate it!!}

To put this on YOUR blog just right click hit Save image as. Copy and paste the link to this post
http://wordsofmeproject.blogspot.com/2012/09/words-of-me-art-journal-challenge2012.html
You can put this image in your Blog sidebar along with my address and make a button out of it!! Thank you so much, girls!!

I hope you will join me!! No need to sign up but I would LOVE to know if you think you might play along!!:)

The Rest of the STORY....

“The secret of life…is to fall seven times and to get up eight times.” - Paulo Coelho, from The Alchemist

A BIG Thank You for all your support, girls!! I read each comment and took in everything you said. I appreciate you all so much!!
I had no idea that after writing that post and getting just a small part of my STORY out there how much BETTER I would feel. It feels like my load has been lightened and now I'm ready to tell the rest of my STORY....

So...by May I was pretty much a wreck. Between trying to parent, earn money, figure out how to make $20 buy our groceries for the week, keep up with the house, activities, etc, etc...I was a hot mess. Along with all of this I was still trying to teach The Old Testament to our youth at church every morning. It was so difficult. My kids would rarely go...everyday had become a battle of wills. Here I was trying to teach our youth how to live good lives and I couldn't even get MY own to go listen. Everyday was just filled to the brim with stress. My headaches were daily...which only added to our financial burden...migraine pills cost a lot.

There was a ray of sunshine that month though. My son, Jackson had the honor of competing in the State Optimist Club Speech weekend. They paid for our room as well as a few meals. I cherish our time together there!!!

I tend to EAT when things get tough...and this time has been no exception. I have found myself eating my way through late-nights and hard times. This is the highest my weight has been. Nothing fits and with no funds...well, I've had to make do. My "uniform" since spring has been those same khaki drawstring pants.

I HATE THEM.

I plan on burning them once I feel normal again. Oh, what a happy day that will be:)

Okay...so it's June....and we NEED MONEY. We have financial obligations we HAVE TO fulfill. We do have other incomes besides our core business that we had shut down and thankfully that was paying some of our large notes...but the day to day stuff...like the light bill and cable and food....those funds were drying up FAST.  We talked about shutting off our Direct TV and phones and just doing without that stuff for awhile. But then we'd get a payment in or something would happen and we could pay the bill.

Living this way is not fun...it is incredibly stressful!!! Once we are through this....NEVER again will I do this....

Anyway...our lawsuit was settled...now we knew the number. It wasn't a quarter of a million dollars but it's big. And it has to be paid. We are still working on this diligently trying to get a loan. Please keep us in your prayers. The deadline is November 1st.

Along with the lawsuit comes lawyers fees. UGH. They are awful...but so grateful we have had such spectacular ones.

If all of this weren't enough to send me to an early grave....my dear, sweet, amazing friend...the woman I told everything to. The woman I walked with every morning, laughed with , cried with and bared my soul to....

She moved away....clear to Utah. Over 1,000 miles. Away.
The morning she told me the news I knew something was up...she looked at me and started to speak and I knew. I took a deep breath and finished her sentence....you'r moving. I cried. I stopped. I smiled. I tried to be happy for her. I knew this was something she had wanted. Her family lives in Utah and she was missing them something fierce.

So here I was....all alone. I mean there were plenty of people here....but the one friend I trusted my heart with had left.

I miss her today but thankfully we keep in touch and I am planning a trip to see her this summer.

So let's assess where I am so far....

*shut business down, lose most of income
*big lawsuit
*loved one making poor decisions causing me to stay up late and worry, not knowing where they are....
* another loved one gets arrested
*migraines daily and stress level so high, eating all the time, gaining weight
*no joy in life
*loss of all sense of fun, not caring about much of anything
*best friend moves away
*income drying up, don't know how long we can keep this up
*haven't made a house payment in months, should we move???


WHEW. Just looking at all that makes my head spin and makes me wonder...."Is this as good as it gets? Is this where my life is always gonna be? What happened to my life?? Where did it go? This isn't what I had envisioned....not at all...."


I felt like a lost soul...wandering around my life...not sure where to go next.

But the thing I kept coming back to...throughout all of this past year...is my Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ.  They are what saved me....they are saving me right now.

I pray daily to Father in Heaven and I KNOW he hears me. I have seen His hand in my life, in my husband's life and in my children's life. Miracles have found there way into our situation...true miracles. There were times we needed a bill paid and we'd get a check in the mail for that exact amount. The Lord has our life in His hands and He is guiding our way.

Through the summer my dear, loving daughter and I have not only regained our relationship be we are closer are now than we have ever been. I love her dearly and am so grateful for the lessons she's teaching me.

These two kids of mine have been through a lot since January. If they told you their STORY I think they'd share a lot of sorrow, too. But I also believe they would tell you that they saw their Mom and Dad work hard to keep us a family. They saw us work hard yet take time for them whenever they needed us.

Here is what I've learned so far on my journey....

*you really can do without
*make most everything from scratch...it's cheaper!
*family is EVERYTHING, without them nothing matters
*say YES and quit nagging all the time!!
*if you must cry...don't do it all day...tell yourself you'll cry jut 5 minutes, then get over it and move on!
*movie theaters are over-rated...create a movie night at home
*keep a gratitude journal, all those little things MATTER!!!
*keep blogging and sharing my STORY, it heals!!!!
*I am not alone
*I CAN do hard things!!!!
*I AM A BRAVE GIRL...I am!!!!
*Praying together as a family brings about miracles!!
* People really CAN change!!!

There are soooo many more lessons I have learned...those are just a few off the top of my head.

So here I am today...it's September, 2012. My life hasn't gotten a whole lot easier....but it's BETTER. I have a job! I am an official substitute teacher and will be working this week at our elementary school as an Art Teacher!! It will feel so GREAT earning money for our family. My kids are doing AMAZING!!! I am sooooo PROUD of where they are in there lives right now!! Jackson is teaching kiindergarten 2 hours a day and getting ready to graduate in May. Em is a LIGHT and standing TALL with COURAGE!! She is making the RIGHT choices and I am soooo proud of her!!!! We are still behind on our house payments and are hoping we don't have to leave our home. We do have a back-up plan if that happens. We still need money for the lawsuit and are working to get that. Please keep us in your prayers!!!!!!

My life isn't perfect....but you know what...it is MY life. I am LIVING it. And yes, it's been so hard this year...but I can SEE that I am blessed. The Lord is here, with me and my family. He has never left and He never will.

Maybe this is as good as it gets...but I don't think so. I think there are sooo many GRAND things planned for me in  my life...in my children's lives....this is only the BEGINNING....

Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them... they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink 

Ready to Tell My STORY-Part One

It is such a secret place, the land of tears." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery 



 Last January I picked the Word STORY for my Word of the Year. You can read about my decision here.  I promised not only you but myself that I would live TRUE. That I would TRY my best this year to be HONEST with all of you and share what's in my heart. Little did I know that this year...2012...would be the hardest year of my life. Filled with heart break, anger, frustration, stress and deep sadness like I've never known before.

True, I have held up my promises to a point...but you don't know the whole STORY. There are several reasons for that...one it's just too darn painful...I don't like reliving much of what's happened and two...due to legalities I'm unable to say a whole lot about certain things until after December 16th.


2012 started off pretty good. As many of you know my husband and I made the decision to shut our business of 22 years down. We had been franchisee's and with the rising cost of fees, product and taxes it was harder and harder to make a profit.

We expected hard financial time and we were prepared. We knew all the extras wouldn't be possible for awhile and we were okay with that.

By the end of January life as I knew began to unravel. We found ourselves in the middle of a  quarter million dollar lawsuit. I felt lmy life  spinning out of control. We had lawyers working on our case and they took any money we had coming in...I couldn't imagine it getting any worse...but then it did.

In February I found out someone so very dear to my heart was making very bad choices. I was blindsided...never saw it coming. The crack was growing bigger in my heart...what had happened to my life in two short months??

Lots of tears and anger and yelling and asking WHY????!!! This was how I spent my days. Sure, I'd stop by here to write a post...wanting so badly to share my truth. Wanting to reach out for help.

I was so alone.

April....things are looking up. The lawsuit is still looming over heads and money is hard to come by but we're okay. The person making  poor decisions was getting better...the cracks in my heart were beginning to heal.

But then...just when I least expected it the phone rang. It wasn't good. Another dear one in my life had been arrested. I could feel my heart swell, ready to burst. Ready to break.

What had I done to deserve this? Hadn't I been a good mother, a good wife and friend. Wasn't I charitable and kind to my fellow man?

WHAT HAD I DONE TO DESERVE THIS??!!! WHAT????!


I have asked this question more times in the past 8 months than I have my entire life. I have grown closer to my Savior and I have been on my knees pleading with Him to come and rescue me.

As 2012 continues it only gets more difficult to put a smile on my face. There are good times to remember and I am holding to those precious memories with my life.

I will share of more of my STORY in the next post. 

Thank you so much for taking the time to listen to me.

I am grateful for YOU!

The Art Experience

So last week I showed you our Kool Kats ice shack. Thanks for all the fun comments and support! This week it's time to share the studio I work at...The Art Experience.

This amazing place was started in June of last year by my children's art teacher...Lisa Loe. She has really out did herself don't you think???

We offer various classes {jewelry making, cork and canvas, polymer clay and tons more}. I will be teaching my second class this Wednesday night from 6 to 8.

If you are in the area I hope you'll join us!! The class is $20 for everything...the house, supplies and inspiration!!

Here is my Soul House in case you missed it last week. I LOVE it!!!!

Lisa's main focus is paint your own bisque ware. This really took off over the summer!!!

Can you believe everything she has to choose from??! I want to paint everything. Especially one of those darling birdhouses!!!

I feel very blessed to be able to work at a place whose main goal is to foster creativity in others. Nothing makes me happier than when I see young children come in and proudly show off their creations to me. LOVE IT!!!


This summer we introduced "Doodlie Do!" My sweet Emma girl along with a few other artists draw on canvas's which we offer to our customers. They can use markers, paints or watercolor pencils to fill in the FUN doodles!

Lisa also features local artists including my Brave Art. So far I have sold 11 pieces:)

Here is another local canvas artist...Brenda Neff.

Along with helping customers I get to work on my own art at the Studio....this has given me a bit more creative time which I LOVE....as you can imagine, lol.

If you are in the area please stop by!! Check out The Art Experience in uptown Maryville. We are open Tuesday through Saturday...some nights till 8pm. Check us out here, too.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this peek into my life the last few posts. I can't wait to share a piece I've been working on for months now. Expect that later this week...Soul Neighorhood Part 1.

Also a reminder about our first annual October Word Challenge that starts October 1st!!!!

Do you work at a creative place?? Heck do you even work outside the home? I would LOVE for you to share!!!!

Hello Kool Kats!

For the past few months you may recall me blogging about our latest business venture "Kool Kats".   Well here are the pics I have been promising...finally-LOL. The photo above shows our little ice shack at the Nodaway County Fair.

Several weeks before our first event we would take Sunday afternoons and practice making our slushies. It was pretty awesome trying all our flavors.

Here's Dave and Emma trying out the ice shaving machine.

Of course we invited our missionaries from church over to enjoy the sweet treats, too.

Emma taking Elder Scoubes "order"-lol.

Hey, Jacks!!!

How many icee's does that make today??!?



We have over 70 flavors at our ice shack and counting!! Some of our more popular flavors include...

*Bahama Mama (strawberry/pineapple)
*Buffalo Berry (cherry, raspberry, strawberry, blueberry)
*Silver Fox with cream (vanilla with vanilla cream)
*Rootbeer float
*Strawberry Shortcake with cream
*Tropical Sunrise (peach, banana, strawberry, orange)
*Frog in a Blender (lime, daquari, strawberry)

My personal favorite is Blackberry, Coconut and Vanilla cream....YUM!!!!

Elder Hall, Em, Elder Scoubes and Jacks slurping up the slushies!!!

"Kool Kats" has been in Maryville for over 12years. We purchased the business about 6 years ago but never opened it until this July. It has been not only a fun adventure but a very successful venture!!!

This is the original Kool Kats menu board from YEARS ago. We haven't changed it!!!


After the fair in July we set up shop on the South end of our little town. You can find us most days from 2:30 to 8:30 taking orders and shaving ice for the fine people of Maryville. Most of our customers remember Kool Kats from their childhood....they love it!!! It's so fun to see someone come up with a twinkle in their eye, order their favorite drink and share their memories with us.


I hope you've enjoyed taking a peek at our ice shack. We are having fun and working together as a family.


Many hands make light work.  ~John Heywood


What is YOUR favorite shaved ice flavor?? I would LOVE to know!!!!

Make Your Soul House

Happiness often sneaks in through a door you didn't know you left open.  ~John Barrymore

Happy Wednesday!! I have been a busy woman....working out, packing lunches for my kids, attending softball games, creating, working, cleaning and working some more. I must tell you  my heart is as full as it's been in MONTHS. I am so happy!!!

I am in the middle of Week 6 of my healthy lifestyle makeover and going strong. Working out and trying to make better food choices. I have a goal in mind to hit by Sunday. Sugar is still tough for me and our snow cones from Kool Kats are killing me. I sit in there and each flavor just taunts me!! Today when I head to work I'm packing plenty of water and a healthy snack:) I wore a pair of shorts that haven't fit in over a year!!

If you are friends with me on Facebook {and if you're not then head over there and friend me already!!} then you have probably heard me talk about The Art Experience. It's a fabulous place in Maryville and I have the joy of working there!! Here is just a peek...I will share more in a later post.

So my friend Lisa owns The Art Experience. She is awesome and she encourages me to create my art and share in her studio. In the past few weeks I have sold 10 pieces!!!

This summer I was inspired to create my Soul House which is now gonna be a class in September and October!!!

This is the display in the Studio.

Isn't this just soooo cute?? And do you see my Soul House???

Here it is.

I had the BEST time collaging and painting and putting my soul into this sweet, little house.

I used all my favorite colors....colors that really speak to my heart. Colors that show up in all my artwork.

I added words and phrases that remind me who I am and where I want to go.

Of course I added my signature girls.

This sweetie shows up in so much of my work. Love that snow heart.

Speaking of hearts....mine has taken flight!

I AM living my creative dreams....I am listening.

For the first time in my artistic life I am embracing my style, my colors, my message. 

If you are in the Maryville Area be sure and check out The Art Experience website for class dates and times.

“It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot

Have you embraced your artistic style? Are you still trying to find it? Do you think your art isn't good enough? Please share here!!

5 Random Movies That I LOVE

I love movies. Scary movies, comedies, dramas. war movies, silly movies, Disney movies, 80's movies, 70's movies, classic movies. I love them ALL!! I also happen to be in love with lists and make lists out of everything. So as I sit here on a quiet Sunday night I thought it would be fun to share 5 of my FAVORITE movies and why I love them so much. So in no particular here are 5 movies that I LOVE.

1) The Graduate. I first saw this film my Junior year in college for a film class. Not only do I love this movie but I LOVE it!!! This was Dustin Hoffman's first and I must say one of his best. From the cool camera shots to the outstanding soundtrack....this is one movie I have seen many times.

2) Sweet Home Alabama. When it comes to romantic comedies this has all the elements of a good one. Reese Witherspoon is perfect as a sassy, spunky southern girl who thinks she has it all until she goes back to her not-so-perfect southern roots. Patrick Dempsey stars. LOVE....

3) Nacho Libre. Okay....so this one might have surprised you. It's one of those movies you either you either love or hate. In the Ackman Family it's our most quoted film. We LOVE it!!!

4) I just happen to LOVE a good scary movie. You know one of those edge of your seat nail biters. Skelton Key happens to be one of those movies. I have seen this film at least 10 times and still get chills at the ending.

5) Yep, another RomCom...Notting Hill with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. I have watched this flick a dozen times and never get tired of it. Cute, sweet and one of the best romantic movie endings EVER!!! A definite LOVE:)


So there ya' go. 5 movies I LOVE. What about you? I would love to hear yours!!

What Brave Girls Club Has Done for Me

So life has been humming along the past few weeks.
There have been bumps and bruises along the way and even a few tantrums on my part. But overall we are moving forward in The Ackman Household. We are putting all the yucky stuff behind us and looking towards a bright future.

Five weeks ago I made a promise to myself that no matter what I would be more active throughout my day. I bought a pedometer, a workout DVD and set a few goals. As of today I have kept my promises. I wear my pedometer daily and strive to get in 10, 000 steps. I have quit making excuses for not working out...even when my neck is screaming and all I really want to do is sit. I lace up my shoes and get my bum downstairs and MOVE. Not only am I noticing a difference in my strength but my posture is improving, my appetite is decreasing and mentally I just feel better.

My days are busy ones. I am working quite a bit at The Art Experience as well as spending 2 to 4 hours a day in our shaved ice shack...Kool Kats. I will also be substitute teaching this year in the Maryville School District. The bottom line is we need the money. But you know I have already noticed with working I am actually becoming more creative and creating my art more. It's true what  they say...

when you LOVE something you WILL make time for it!!!:)


Just a few things I am working on for my Blog....

*Twenty Ideas that Will Change Your Life
*First Annual WORD Challenge in October
*Guest blog posts
*Healthy, Easy and Yummy recipes

Throughout this past year I have learned soooo many life lessons. But the ones that keep coming back to lift me up are ones I learned from Brave Girl, Melody Ross.

*Fly Anyway
*Do it Anyway
*I am a Brave Girl
*I am worth it

The list is endless....


I am grateful for Brave Girl's Club philosophy. I encourage you to "Like" them on FB and visit their site today...it has the power to change the way you look at your life!!!

Girls, I have sooo many photos to take!! Kool Kats, my NEW class I'm teaching at The Art Experience, my NEW art, journal pages and more. Today I will try and get a few of those things done so I can share!!

Thanks for being here. Each of you truly matter to me.

Embrace Your Artistic Self

"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong." -Joseph Chilton Pearce


A few weeks ago my friend Lisa and I were talking about our art. Lisa is the High School  art teacher at Maryville High School and owns the coolest place in town...The Art Experience. I am blessed to work in her studio several times a month as well as teach classes. Like a dream come true, really!

Anyway, so we were talking about her shop and the vision she has for it and how it's been a year but at last it's all coming together. I am so proud of her for going after her dream!! So as we were talking I let it all spill out about how I was so nervous to talk to her...let alone show her my work. She is my daughter's teacher...so I knew her that way and had told her about my work but never had I shown her anything of mine.

So I told her about how intimidated I was to show her my work. And about how badly I wanted to work for her but was too scared to ask.

She was shocked. She really was. She started to laugh and asked me..."Why?"

The answer was easy...I thought she'd laugh at my art. Say it wasn't really art and who are you kidding when you say you create...art? That's not art...I don't know what it is...it's just not art.

As I kept going on and on about how I thought she would not get my work at all and how I just KNEW she would never let anyone like me work in her studio she stopped me. She reminded me that what is art to some....may not be art to others....and that was okay. But who are we to judge? Who are we to say...That's not art?

I love that!!!

The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.

Since our talk that day I have been on fire. I am looking at my art very, very differenly. I love my style and have decided to embrace it rather than try to change it. Because honestly...that's what I have been trying to do these past few years...change my style. Only because I didn't think it was good enough.

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light. ~Mary Dunbar

It is time...heck it's past time...to find YOUR unique voice. Chances are you have already found it...you just gotta BELIEVE it.

Keep on creating girls. Keep on being who you are. Listen to your heart.

It's all GOOD

*I am on Week 4 of working out and taking better care of me
*I work till 5 at The Art Experience today
*Currently junking up a suitcase...SO FUN!
*Headed to Kansas City tomorrow for Em's BIG Back to School shopping trip {she earned all her own money this summer}
*Working in Kool Kats till 10 tonight...so grateful for all the business!
*Dreaming of Fall and cool weather
*Date Night with Dave this weekend


What is making you HAPPY???

Busy but....GOOD!

Just a quick post before the weekend.

First of all I want to say 

THANK YOU

to sweet Leanne

from Chaos Comes Happy...

She created my NEW blog look!!!

She is soooo creative and talented.

Second of all I am WAY excited 

for my SOUL HOUSE Class coming to

The Art Experience September

and October!! 

I will post 

photos of the house

Monday.

Third....

We are so busy!

WOW...school starts Thursday

and the nuttiness has already 

begun.

Em has softball practice 

everynight

and Jackson is

running on the Cross Country 

team every morning.

Plus we are working

in our shaved ice shack

Kool Kats 10 hours 

a day.

I am currently adding my Brave Art

to a suitcase, a chest of drawers and a desk.

Before and After photos soon.

These pieces are for the studio I work in...

The Art Experience.

Lots of GOOD things!!!

How about you??

What GOOD things

are in your world

today???

Making Time to JUST DO It!!

Delicious autumn!  My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns.  ~George Eliot



Okay....so I know it's just August 8th...but I am sooo excited about the return of Fall and all that comes with it. Cooler days and even cooler nights, football, soups and homemade bread, long walks outside, craft shows and the list goes on.

It seems each time a season changes I am ready to sit down and map out a new set of goals for myself. Here is what I've come up with for this Fall.

Home:
*get a rotation of meals to go including plenty of crock pot meals
*Keep up with my Weekly Home Blessing Hour on Mondays
*Try not to be so worked up if house isn't perfect
(I am going back to working full-time in the fall so this is important)

Spirit:
*Read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John by January 1st in the New Testament
*Make cute cards and treats for my Visiting Teaching Sisters

Family:
*Continue our family game night on Mondays
*Family Scriptures and Prayer 3 times a week

Blog:
*Write 3 posts a week
*Have a NEW Challenge in October {stay tuned}

Body/Health:
*Lose 10 pounds by my Birthday {October 12}
*Be able to wear my BLING jeans comfortably
*Share my healthy meals on Instagram
*Be able to complete ALL 5 miles on my walking DVD

Art:
*Finish my Soul Neighborhood Part 1 {Can't wait to show you this!!!}
*Make and KEEP Studio hours
*Pick a date for my Soul House class
*Teach at lease one, maybe two classes at The Art Experience
*Try new techniques (I really want to paint like Flora Bowly)
*Buy a few NEW items {copics and modeling paste top my list}

I am already on my way with several of these goals. Nearly 3 weeks ago I began working out to Leslie Sansone's Five Big Miles. I am getting so much stronger!!

Not only do you walk....you jog, do squats and lunges and work your upper body. What makes this different than other tapes I've tried is that I CAN DO IT! Before I've always tried Jillian Michaels or the PINK METHOD. Right now they are just too hard. I do not want to give up!!!

I am nearly finished with my Soul Neighborhood Part 1. This piece has taken so much time...but soon it will be done and I can share!!!

I do pretty good at getting 3 blog posts up each week...just holding myself accountable here.

The art classes at The Art Experience are already in the works. So excited about this!!

So even though this may seem like a large list...I am in the middle of working on many of these. I know I can accomplish them.

source

Do you set new goals for yourself in the Fall? What are you hoping to get done in the next few months?