A good scrapbooking convention!

This weekend I had fun at the Creating Keepsake's yearly Mesa Scrapbook Convention. I'm so fortunate that I only live about 5 minutes away. I took 8 classes, all in a 24 hr. period from Thurs. night to Friday night. I have a table full of my projects, not to mention I brought home extras, goodie bags, prizes and others stuff worth more than I spent to go - so it was a good time.

I also met a new friend named Serena. She lives just a few minutes from me and now I have someone I can scrapbook with. She's not married, has no kids, but she's older than me by a few years. She's a lot of fun and we have so much in common. I homeschool and she's working at a local community college while earning her degree to become a teacher. We even jumped out of our seats at the same time to teach others around us how to do a difficult project in one of our classes.

So here's what I made:
An accordion album, covered front & back with great paper and lots of the new velvet paper. A rolodex-type system scrapbook, 3 photo clip stands (made from binder clips), 3 solid, heavy, wood photo blocks I'll cover with photos, 5 great layout pages with photo matte cutouts, and even 2 with moving parts!, a travel tag mini book, a see-through acrylic mini album, a FRIENDS shaped album, and some other stuff I'm probably forgetting.

I only do this once a year, and the homeschool convention once a year. Those are my 2 to 4 days a year I take for me. The other 361+ are for others.

Monthly and Weekly Goals

How many of us have set yearly goals only to forget what they even were by the time March rolls around? I usually find forgotten lists around August and then scramble to see what I still have time to complete. I'm learning to break it into smaller pieces to get more done that's truly important.

I now set monthly goals in several areas: my work (can be your job, home business, even stuff to get done regarding housework if that's your daily job), my health, my mind (what I'm going to read to get better), my friends, my family, (who I'll connect with that month), my finances, my faith, my recreation, and my renewal (what I'll do for me).

After you figure out some things you'd like to get done, then break it into weekly goals - week 1, week 2, etc.

If you need to, you could even break it into daily bites, like to read 10 minutes, or 1 chapter every day.

Here's an imaginary list to get you started:

May:

1. Reach the next level in our company.
2. Order next year's Math curriculum.
3. Donate all outgrown and unwanted clothes to the Goodwill bins.
4. Drop 5 pounds by walking 3 times a week and eating healthier, smaller portions.
5. Read The Eighth Habit by Stephen Covey.
6. Call Elaine in CA.
7. Talk to Lynn on the phone again.
8. Take kids to a movie.
9. Date night with spouse.
10. Get started on Sharon's gift.
11. Stick to $100/week grocery budget.
12. Read Psalms 1 - 20.
13. Enjoy going to Scrapbooking Convention just for me.
14. Take a trip to a nearby lake.
15. Write the next chapter in my book.

Now 15 things may seem like a lot to work on in just 30 or 31 days, but if you break it down to Weeks 1 - 4, it's not so bad:

Wk 1: Find 2 new businesses, go through drawers for unwanted clothing, walk MWF, read first 1/4 of book, email Elaine to set up time to call her on the weekend, check out movie lists, plan date with spouse, buy items for gift-making, read psalms 1-5, attend convention, pick a lake to visit, write 5 pages this week in my book.

See, now it's manageable, not to hard, just break it down and get more done. Even if you don't get it all done, you'll get more done than if you hadn't planned, right?