All posts tagged daily journal

thanks!

by Megan on November 21, 2012 in celebrate, personal, thanksgiving with No comments

Thanksgiving is mere hours away and I wanted to take a step away from the kitchen (where I’m cooking a 100% from scratch feast for four!) and reflect on the things I couldn’t live without. In all honesty, I have a wonderful and very fortunate life with a great husband, nice apartment, a job and though I take these things for granted all the time, I will always take this time of year to reflect on how lucky I am to be me.

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My husband, obviously. Without whom, I would be a very unbalanced individual. Josh is great at a lot of things. He’s a super analytical-thinker but he also has an amazing creative side. He broadens my scope to include things that I normally wouldn’t care about but should, like politics and how to pack things in the most efficient way. He also saves me from myself a lot. There is so much I want to do in life. I have about a million projects on an ever-lengthening to do list; I want to grow this blog, open a business, make our apartment perfect and so many times, I try to do these things all at once and burn out. Josh is amazing at reminding me that it takes time to do these things and that the people I admire in these areas didn’t become a success over-night. He’s my soul-matey and I don’t know where I’d be without him… but my best guess in institutionalized.

My family. It almost feels a little generic to just write “my family” but I think it’s important to take some time to reflect on the impact they’ve had on my life. Like my mom, she is one of the most hilarious people I know and she works so hard to be an amazing parent. My grandpa has been one of the biggest motivational forces in my life. He’s always pushing for me to reach my full potential. One of the reasons I always knew I was going to attend college is because he talked it up all my life. My Uncle Scott and Aunt Brandi are the most amazing family model. I was a flower girl at their wedding in 1995 and I’ve never seen anything but love emanating from their relationship. They got married young, they’ve taken chances, and, together, they built this amazing life. I have so many wonderful family members, each as unique and amazing as the next. Though I probably don’t call as much as I should, I love them all.

This blog. An ever-growing, never ending, creative project that I love working on. I’ve been blogging for almost three years and I’ve recently decided to really commit and try to turn Two Live Colorfully into something awesome. This means more frequent posts, more DIY projects and tutorials, better interaction with the blogging community, and a lot more. I’m in the perfect time in my life to pursue something like becoming a professional blogger so why shouldn’t I? It’s something that I love doing and I’m going for it.

It would take me forever to write out everything I’m thankful for (because there is a whole lot!) but these are the big three. What are you thankful for this holiday season?

and the lame blogger award goes to…

by Megan on September 10, 2012 in our colorful life, personal with No comments

It’s me! Good golly gracious, it has been over a month since my last post! Ridiculous? Yes. Warranted? Maybe. The jury is still out.

But either way, August turned out to be a crazy month in the Willis household. Mostly because Josh officially started teaching high school algebra! All of a sudden, it’s like we’re adults or something. He’s been dedicating most of his time to school and my mission has been to be a sort of safety net while we’re in transition (keeping the apartment clean, making lunches, and such).

Of course, I’m still on the job hunt myself, but it seems as though some progress is being made.

The weather here in Texas has been amazing this past week. Mid-to-high 80′s, with clear skies and breezes that I refuse to interpret as anything other than the start of fall (my favorite season, without a doubt). I even saw pumpkins pop up on my most recent grocery trip!

So, of course, I couldn’t leave the store without getting a fall scented candle and some candy corn. I’ve been stalking the holiday category on Pinterest looking for inspiration for the upcoming months. It. will. be. awesome!

But, in the spirit of getting this blog back on track, I thought I’d share my one-line-per-day journal entries for the month of August to let you know what I’ve been up to:

1. A joint workout then lake trip prep.
2. J & I left for my family lake trip.
3. Boating & swimming all day.
4. More fun at the lake, s’mores with Tabetha.
5. Home from the lake.
6. Back to routine. Grocery shopping & awesome workout.
7. Feeling a little sick but got in a workout.
8. Interview at Sugar Bee Sweets.
9. Poolside dinner & evening swim with J.
10. Watched documentary “The Business of Being Born”
11. White board making & school shopping with Josh.
12. Five loads of laundry & a workout.
13. Started Josh’s classroom makeover
14. More painting & celebratory dinner @ El Ranchito.
15. More work on J’s class & interview.
16. Laptop is caput, but new big idea in the works.
17. J bought me an amazing touch screen computer!
18. Goal: getting organized.
19. Perfect weather & a foot dip in the pool.
20. Blueberry & plum cobbler w/ homemade whipped cream.
21. A quick visit with Mom, Dad, & Rachel.
22. Day trip to Commerce to get Rachel moved into her dorm.
23. Whipped up some awesome posters for J’s class.
24. Brainstorm ideas for an etsy shop.
25. J’s classroom is done & awesome.
26. Enjoying the calm before the school year.
27. J’s first day teaching & a funfetti cake to celebrate.
28. We posed as sexists to post a joke review of a ridiculous product.
29. Inspired by ShayCarl
30. House & baby talk with Josh
31. Dinner @ Country Burger & organizing J’s class.

And now we’re in September! We have a lot of fun things to share on TLC this month, like the reveal of Josh’s bright classroom, holiday prep, and lots of organization madness. I joined the Home Organization 101 14 week challenge over at A Bowl Full of Lemons, so stay tuned for updates on that!

our colorful life: goodbye july!

by Megan on August 1, 2012 in our colorful life, personal with No comments

It’s August 1st! Isn’t that just crazy? Josh and I are getting ready to head out for a little family vacation this weekend. I thought to wrap up July posts it would be fun to share last month’s entries from my daily line journal. I’m pleased to say that I have kept up with the journal everyday since I started it in May and I’m so glad! It will so awesome to look back on this in a few years and remember fun moments I would’ve otherwise forgotten.

So here is my July 2012:

1. Birthday pedicure + a new recipe: ham & cheese sliders
2. Up early. Made muffins to ease the Monday blues
3. Painted dining room art: floral over gold stripes
4. Lazy holiday. Pool, brisket, and watching scrubs
5. Interview at Sprinkles
6. Window shopping with J. Apple Store, Z Gallerie, Crate & Barrel
7. Trial day at Sprinkles Cupcakes
8. New recipe: chicken and artichoke lasagna
9. We finished decorating the dining room!
10. A bloggy day! More content and improvements
11. An epic search for Scribble yielded no results
12. Lots of blog brainstorming
13. Jennifer & Rachel arrive for an overnight visit
14. Oaklawn tour, lunch out, & siesta with J
15. A life epiphany of sorts
16. First workout in months
17. Lazy day… Psych marathon
18. Lazy day #2
19. Almost fully unpacked + living room curtains almost done
20. Living room curtains done! Bold and awesome!
21. An afternoon swim with J
22. Jack Daniels pulled pork & corn on the cob for dinner
23. Blog planning. “Where am I taking TLC?”
24. More TLC blogging re-design
25. The job search continues
26. Shopping at World Market and Anthropologie
27. Evening reading outside on the porch
28. Playing, laughing, & lounging in bed
29. New recipe: pan-fried chicken
30. Fitness in my #1 priority
31. Spontaneous movie date – The Dark Knight Rises

What was your July like? Do you keep up with a journal or diary? Share below!

tutorial: create an easy, diy daily journal

by Megan on June 4, 2012 in do it yourself with 1 Comment

Journaling is something I’ve attempted several times throughout my life. Most of those happened during my teenage years (like everyone, right?), but I never really stuck with it. But, as always, Pinterest has inspired me to start back up. I saw this adorable daily journal idea and decided to create my own. I think one line per day is more manageable than trying to enter a whole passage every day and after a few years it will be amazing to look back.

This project was amazingly simple, too. All you’ll need is two packs on large index cards, colorful cardstock, and a small container.

I cut the index cards in half to get 365 note cards. The original tutorial used a date stamp to add each day to the note cards but I didn’t have one on hand so I just wrote the date out. It took a little bit longer, but I didn’t mind. I used different colors and patterns of cardstock to make month separators. To measure, I just used the halved index card and added about half an inch to the top so you would be able to see them.

Just put everything in your container in date order, and you are set! I snagged this berry container from work, but you could splurge a little and maybe get one of these cute ceramic ones and use any other small container you have on hand. Not only is this a meaningful way to document daily highlights but it also makes a cute display.

I started it on May 11th and so far I’ve stayed true to writing a line every day. I also really like this system because it makes me really think about my day. And on days where I don’t have anything too exciting this daily journal it pushes me to either do something fun and out of the ordinary or look for the little things that I might take for granted.

Do you journal? What systems work for you? Share below!