2011 One Little Word Wrap-Up

For the last two years, I've chosen One Little Word to guide me for the year.  As a fan of Ali Edwards, her thoughts on the effects of choosing just one word, resonated with me.  And so I began the process in the last days of 2009, choosing 'Live' for 2010 and 'Grow' for 2011.

As I began reflecting on this last year, I pleasantly discovered that I had accomplished several of my goals and did indeed, Grow in many ways.  Sharing some of the ways I've grown on here at Time Crafted, seems only appropriate since so many of you have given me both inspiration and support.

I began the year taking Ali Edwards' year long One Little Word workshop at Big Picture Classes.  And while it was great to see Andi, Siri, and other familiar, friendly faces, I mostly worked on this offline.

She's repeating the workshop for 2012 and I'm leaning towards signing up again.  It definitely helped me keep 'Grow' close at heart throughout the year.

One night on Twitter, @thienkim urged me to check out The Sketchbook Challenge.  Her enthusiasm was infectious and I was excited to create along.

Creating an art journal always seemed intimidating to me.  It might sound silly, but many creative bloggers and artists I visit, have mad crazy talent and I fretted about not measuring up...until I realized that the goal isn't to 'measure up', but rather to grow, try new things, learn new skills, and improve on what I already do.  So, I did.

After reading the creative writing goodness that Mandy weaves with her words, I wanted to get back into my own creative writing.  I missed it and knew that it had been far too long since I swam with crazy colored words.

I decided to start small and began with a microfiction meme.  It's the shortest of short fiction, written in 140 characters or less, including spaces & punctuation.  Turns out, microfiction is a whole mess o' fun!

Looking at where Mandy was sharing her fiction with, I headed over to The Red Dress Club, which is now Write on Edge, a virtual writing community.

I began writing and sharing my fiction with their Red Writing Hood prompts, as well as some memoir with their RemembeRED prompts.

And then I got brave.  In November, a group of writers within the Write on Edge community participated in NaNoWriMo and I joined in.

I didn't hit the word count, but I'm okay with my results.  If you want to know what I thought was so cool about the whole process, check out my really short post: NaNoWriMo in 8 Sentences.

When Bruna, @beeswithhoney, said she wanted to feature me on her Let's BEE Friends series, I was tickled pink.  And when Sarah, @MamaRiceCake, asked me to write a positive guest post for her, I went Dancing with Rainbows.  Mandy asked me to guest post on Makes Fun and I wrote the low down on The Little Red Bear.

And speaking of writing, one more area I wanted to grow was right here on the blog.  In this case, I wanted to literally grow...more posts, that is.  I didn't set a goal or a specific number to hit; simply that I wanted to post more than I had last year.  And with this post, I'm coming in with 51 more posts than in 2010.  Grow Goal, accomplished.

I spent most of 2010 knowing that I needed wanted needed to upgrade my Point & Shoot camera.  I had squeezed out every ounce I could from it and was itching for a DSLR.  In February last year, it was time to take the leap.  I bought a Nikon D3100 and while I'm still learning how the heck to use it in manual, photography is something I've grown to love since beginning this blogging journey.

2011 became the year of the virtual Book Clubs, starting with Andrea (a sweet Book Fairy) leading one on the SITS Girls site, which is now over on her site Great Thoughts. She selects great books and we wrap our reads up with fun monthly Twitter parties, tweeting with the books' authors, using the hashtag #Gr8Books.  You should join us!

This fall, @thienkim asked me to be a From Left to Write Contributor.  What's wonderfully unique about this book club is that we write posts inspired by the books we read.  As a result I was able to share Who Will Tell Your Story?, as well as a favorite artist of ours, Michel LeRoux.  Another unique bit is that the book selection here really varies, widening my viewpoints, and hopefully, others' too.

This was a looong post, I know.  If you're still here, give yourself a pat on the back, a taste of Nutella, a cuppa java, or an ice cold martini.  Thanks for hanging in there!

The One Little Word, Grow, has taken me on quite a journey this year!  How about you?  Do you chose just one little word to hold near your heart, to guide you, to focus you in your year ahead? 

 

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2011 Favorites

Here we are, wrapping up the remaining days of 2011.  Can you believe it?  I barely can.  And yet, when I was writing a wrap up post on my journey with my One Little Word for this year, I came across quite a few paths travelled.

But, that post is Friday, so do come back!  Today, thanks to Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop, I'm sharing a favorite (or simply special) post for each month of 2011.  Grab a cuppa and join me down memory lane.

January

Just before Christmas 2010, I got the uber brilliant idea that it was time to organize my son's crazy huge collection of Lego bricks.  Actually, it was indeed a brilliant idea.  My timing, though?  Not so much. 

And in January, I shared our results and what has become my most frequently visited post of 2011, From Lego Landslide to Organized!

In case you are wondering how well this organization system has worked, I can tell you that a year later, thousands and thousands of Lego bricks are still in their appropriate drawers after hundreds of building sessions!

February

My daughter's sweet face in the morning sunlight had me clicking my camera, capturing one of my favorite photos of the year:  Sweet Lashes.

March

Good friends can make a person tick and I'm lucky enough to have a close friendship with three gals for well over twenty years now, who are like sisters, who keep my heart tick tocking in time.

In Gravity or Instinct, I Just Knew, I shared how I met one of these women, all those years ago.

April

In Even the Easter Bunny Gets Creative, you'll see how that Bunny likes to have fun in our house!

May

I took a stroll down Memory Lane to share this experience:  Sushi Gone Wrong.

June

In R.S.V.P., the first of four fictional characters emerged, Cassie. If you like her, the next installment is Kick Ass Shoes!

July

Taking a day trip to the coast is a favorite activity for all of us; we Love the Ocean, Dig the Beach!

August

When listing 10 Places I Love to Be, I found that not all can be found on any kind of map.  What about you?  Can you look up your favorite places?

September

One of those favorite places in August's list led to For the love of bound paper... - obnoxious signage, promised treasures, and the sad reality that sank in.

October

If you're coming in from Mama Kat's (or one of the millions who read Pioneer Woman), you might remember the prompt that led to the post that showed me I have done more than I realize over the years.  22 things I { have } done

November

After an Unexpected adventure, I felt the impact that someone you don't even know can have.

December

My last piece of fiction shared here this year brings new characters and the beginning to a brand new story, The Doorbell Rang.


What about you?  Where have you journeyed to in 2011?  I hope you'll make one more stop back here this year, on Friday, looking where just One Little Word can take a person.

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Santa's Smiling Treat

Just a li'l Christmas share today, before wrapping up the holidays here.

The kidlets dutifully left Santa and his reindeer a thoughtful GFCF snack. They said they want Santa to be healthy. But, the kicker was the smiley face they left the Extreme Chocolate Mini Cookies, mug of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and carrots in the shape of.  (Yes, the carrots got a li'l wonky in transit from the kitchen to the living room. Nope, didn't fix it - it's their effort, I'm just documenting it!)

Guess they thought Santa deserved to be greeted by a smile upon arrival. They knew he had been traveling for quite a long time by the time he hit our house. Did you know he even visited the International Space Station this year? He did. That Santa Tracker that the kidlets had me refreshing on my computer all night said so!

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I regularly purchase Pamela's mini cookies (the ginger ones are my fav, the chocolate cookies are the kids' fav variety) and the Silk almond milk (it's delish in my coffee, when my son doesn't drink it all...the almond milk, not the coffee!) with my own money.  Affiliate links are used in this post.

Merry Christmas!

It's been a whirlwind of Christmas activities in this li'l dot on the globe.  And as exhausting as it all has been, every last bit has been worth it.

Our days have been filled with lights, tree hunting & decorating, school field trips, singing, bell ringing, Christmas crafts, shopping, wrapping, Advent Calendar ornament hanging, gingerbread house candying, card making, GFCF Christmas menu planning, more shopping, more wrapping, more singing, and a whole lotta family smiles and laughter.

Wishing you a very Merry Christmas!  May the holidays that you celebrate be filled with loved ones, giggles, hugs, and fun!

#iPPP ~ Bird Ribbons

We see these small birds every year, sometime in November or December, scavenging the remains of the harvested vineyards.  The way they fly together and abruptly change directions make it look like there are ribbons dancing across the skies.

 

Last year, my brother snapped a couple pics on his iPhone to show me.....because he thought they were bats.  Nope.  Tiny little birds, flocking together.

I'm usually behind the wheel, driving when I see them and have never been able to take a photo, so I was stoked that he did.  Aren't they cool?  Their movement drops my jaw in awe, every year, every time.