A Face a Day

Time is going by so fast. Already I'm 60 years old. I watched a TV show the other day where one character asks his friend, "when you were 10 years old is this what you imagined you would be doing with your life?" I asked myself the same question. Then I had to ask where I actually would have imagined myself to be when I was 60. The only sure answer was that I'd probably be a grandma and be an artist. 

Well, I got one of those right. I have 10 wonderful grandchildren. I wouldn't call myself a true artist though. I feel an artist is someone who spends time and hones her craft. I have been doing practically nothing with my art. I actually avoid it. Does this mean I'm not an artist? 

I decided to try to answer that question by drawing a face a day and seeing if I could get to the point I felt comfortable calling myself an artist. I tend to start a project and then get distracted and move on to something else. Hopefully by posting my drawings I'll have some sort of accountability (even though no one else is probably watching. This is for me.)

Here's my first attempt. It's a sketch taken from the cover of the Liahona magazine (Feb. 2013)

Samoa

It was interesting to look back at my past posts on this blog. So much has happened since then. No, I did not complete all my goals. In fact, I completed very few of them. The good new, though, is that I haven't given up hope that I will eventually have the success I want.

I decided to maybe do a few personal posts on this blog that no one reads because there is a new life change coming for Mark and I.

Actually, a life change came a little over a year ago. My father passed away on Jan. 15, 2013. This ended an era of caring for my father in our home for over eight years. (My mother passed away 5 years before my dad. I had cared for her pretty much 24/7 for nearly 3 years).

After my dad passed away I thought, "This is the perfect time to make changes in my life because I'm starting with a new slate." Unfortunately I didn't take advantage of the situation. A lot of good things have happened this last year, but it hasn't been the time of change and improvement that I had hoped. That was no one's fault but my own.

Anyway, back to the new life change coming for Mark and I. We will be leaving 10 weeks from tomorrow to volunteer for 6 months in Apia, Samoa.

This is the perfect opportunity to eat healthier, exercise more, increase my spirituality and act on my creativity. More to come...

Goal #3

Today is the first day of Dr. Fuhrman's 6-week holiday challenge. I committed each day to eat a large salad, a cooked green vegetable (preferably with mushrooms and onions), a serving of legumes, and at least 3 servings of fruit. I also committed to not eat white flour or sugar (including artificial sweeteners) and to limit my intake of oil.

I decided to start last Tuesday rather than today. It has been interesting. Over the last week I've lost 5 1/2 pounds. Even better, I've stopped craving sugar.

I need to not lose focus though. I don't know how many times I've stopped craving sugar and started losing weight and then started eating sugar again, for whatever reason, and then started in a renewed spiral of sugar addiction.

Goals #1 and #2

Goal #1 - Scriptures and prayers daily. I've been a little lax with my morning scriptures and prayers lately. I should just wake up and do them first thing, but I often get distracted by something else and then forget.

Right now I'm reading Luke in the New Testament. I would love to finish the NT by the end of the year, but don't know if I'll quite make it.

Today I started my challenge out right with waking up and doing my scriptures and prayers first thing. One day down and 45 to go until the end of the year.

Goal #2 - Exercise 6 days a week. I've been a little better with this goal. I've started a courthouse membership and have been taking group power classes MWF and group active classes on TTh. Mark and I usually go on a walk on Saturdays.

One thing I might like to change is group active. It has 20 minutes of weight training and I don't want to lift weights every day. Glenda wasn't at group active yesterday so I stayed for group step. It was so much more challenging and I might consider taking it instead. I also want to try a spin class.

New Goals

I just read Willow's post about her new Master List of goals. I looked at the goals I set for myself several years ago on this blog. I did end up graduating from BYU as planned. Some of the other goals I haven't been as consistent with. I decided to make a new list of goals to take me through the end of 2011.

Goal #1 - Daily scripture study and prayers

Goal #2 - Exercise 6 days a week

Goal #3 - Do Dr. Fuhrman's 6 week holiday challenge

Goal #4 - Do something creative each day for the rest of the year

Goal #5 - Preparedness plan in place

Goal #6 - Look for an opportunity to serve each day

Goal #7 - Complete kids' bedroom

OK. That should be good for a start. I will comment more on each of these goals in later posts and report on how I am progressing.

looking at my old goals...

I just looked at my blog for the first time in over a year and a half. My mother died 6 months after my last post. Our family stopped using the "healthy and happy" blog over a year ago, but my daughter Willow and I decided to resurrect it and begin posting our food journals on it for the next six weeks. As for progress on my goals:
goal #1 - I was able to finish reading the Old Testament by the end of 2006.
goal #2 - I have been walking daily about 5 times a week.
goal #3 - I am just finishing up my classes and should graduate from BYU in August.
goal #4 - I have been good at times with this goal and very bad at others. Right now "eating as close to the source as possible" is one of Willow's and my goals for our Eat-to-Live food journaling.
goal #5 - One of my big goals when I graduate from BYU is to start drawing and painting again.
Hmmmm...maybe I haven't done so bad.

goal #5

I hesitate to post this goal, but it's one that I really want to do. I don't know why I can't seem to make myself do it. Maybe it's because other things seem to vie for my attention and I let myself get distracted. I've heard that if something is important enough to you then you"ll find a way to make the time. If I say it's so important to me, why am I not making the time to...

goal #5 - draw a picture every day