Back to Healthy Living!

So as some of you may remember, back in January I decided to work on one or two "healthy living" goals a month. 2013 was going to be my year! :) Here are a few of the posts if you would like to revisit them or are reading my blog for the first time.
January - fast food
February - Sleep and Exercise
March - Drink More Water, No Soda
April - No new goals, just focus on the ones I already have
May - Unplug from Screens More

Summer with the kids home was a little bit of a vacation from goals. Not that I gave up completely. I did manage to fit in exercise, drink more water, avoid fast food, and sleep better sometimes :) But not always. The difference is I am more aware, and more likely to choose better for myself.

The children are officially back in school as of last week. But have been off the past three days due to the excessively hot weather here. Some of the classrooms in their school had 100+ temps inside. So really it was a safety issue.
But next week is September, and they should be back in school full time after Labor Day.
Time for a fresh start.

"Stop Procrastinating and Just Do it!" Right?
So I will be revisiting some goals and keeping them realistic...

Going to bed earlier. And by early I mean by 11pm on school nights. That may seem late to some people. But for a girl who has no trouble staying up until 12:30 or 1am, it is early :)

Exercise! Maybe not every day, but at least 5 a week. If I know I have a day or two "off", I am more likely to keep things consistent. Right now I am at about 3 or 4 which is not bad, but I know I can do better.

Drinking more water! But allowing myself one soda a week. A treat really :) I noticed this summer that if I told myself I had that one Dr. Pepper a week to look forward to that I didn't crave it as much. And some weeks I went without because I just didn't need it.

So there you have it. Going to focus on those three goals for September and we will see where it leads :)

Also, if you are a regular reader of my blog, you may have noticed that my blog rolls are gone from the side. I was feeling a little overwhelmed seeing all the blogs there, and decided to move them all to a blog reader. ("Bloglovin) But I am still not sure I am sold on the idea because I am kind of missing the ease of just clicking on the links from my blog. Plus, Bloglovin wouldn't let me comment on a few blogs earlier tonight. So I may be adding my regular blog friends who I like to check in with frequently back in a blog roll. A smaller blog roll.
The blogs I don't regularly comment on, such as manufacturers or magazine blogs will probably stay at the blog reader since I just read those.  I need to see how I feel about it all in a week or so.

Also, just want to add that the new Disney theme line Say, Cheese and the back to school line Smarty Pants by Simple Stories are in the shop at Paper Issues. You can get them  *Here*. And if you use the code MARYJO, you will receive 20% off your purchase!

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend. And if you are in the USA, enjoy the holiday on Monday!
I will be back next Wednesday with a post.

WOYWW

I haven't done an official "What's on Your Workspace Wednesday" in a long time. And since the kids are home from school today due to the excessive heat (99 degrees) and no air conditioning, I won't be able to link up at Julia's blog The Stamping Ground today.
Maybe in September :)
But I did want to show you what is on my space right now.

I am working on a layout using a sketch by Juliana Michaels over at The Paper Bakery. You can see the sketch a little on the left. That paper covered with heart sequins. I am using the August main and Capture 365 kits on my page.

What are you working on right now?

Here I Am!

Well, both kids are back in school officially and this was supposed to be their first full week. Unfortunately, after having the most mild summer I can ever remember, we are being hit with temps in the 90's this week. Their school does not have air conditioning, and when it gets to the mid nineties the rooms get way too hot!
So full day today and then half days for the rest of the week.
I can't say I am sorry, because I have been in the classrooms when it is that hot and no one could concentrate. Or breath!

So I am going to slowly ease back into blogging this week.
Actually, today I have not one but two blog posts going up over at Paper Issues.

The new issue (challenge) is up and it's a sketch provided by the Simple Scrapper site.
These are the layouts by the design team members on the blog hop (not me). But I did participate and created my own take on the sketch...

It is such a great sketch. You can find my post and the sketch *Here*. Would love for you to come by and say "hi". Also, I will have a card up using the sketch and scraps from my layout there later this afternoon.

I have missed blogging, but at the same time really needed the break.
It feels good to be back.
And I am looking forward to checking in with all of my blog friends, too!

And I know on my last blog post I mentioned how we went to Washington, DC for a little vacation.

I loved it! The last time I visited there was with my parents 20 years ago! And it was so cool to bring my family there. But let's just say it was more fun for Evan than Erin...

She was so not impressed with the White House there behind her. At this point, she just wanted to go back to the hotel and swim in the pool. In fact, that is all she wanted to do pretty much the whole trip.
Evan on the other hand...

was thrilled! I think he pretty much loved every single minute of this trip!
Will try to share more pictures in future posts. :)

Thanks for stopping by today!

Project Life at Paper Issues!

Hi, Everyone!
Still on break, since the kids do not officially start school until next week.
But I do want to share that there is a new issue up on the Paper Issues blog.

Several members of the design team (I am not on this blog hop) were given product from Becky Higgins Project Life collections to create the projects you see above.

So the theme this time around is Project Life. You can go *Here* to see the details. One lucky winner will get a Project Life core kit of his or her choice. Also there are six chances to win a Project Life kit sampler pack when you comment on the blogs of the design team members participating in the blog hop!
The deadline to enter and link up your projects is August 25th.

We are super busy as the summer break winds down here.
Just got back from a trip to Washington DC last week (photos to come later)
a birthday party on Saturday for Erin who actually turned six on July 31st, and so much more...

such as Erin learning to finally ride her bike without training wheels. She is super excited about that! :)

Ok, short and sweet today. So much to pack in before they start school. Where is the time going?!