Intentional Mondays

Quote of the week... “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.”  — Ralph Waldo Emerson. I think this is a lovely quote to think on in January, don't you?

Write Every Day... I didn't write every day this past week, but I did somehow manage to reach my word count goal I had set for myself. Thanks goes to my husband who picked up the kids from school one day so I could keep on writing til dinnertime. I love when I get in a groove and the words just flow. This doesn't happen all the time, but just often enough that it keeps me motivated for the next time it will! Not sure I will get much writing done this week, seeing as how I'm going to be out of town half the week. I plan to use some time instead to do what I call "the work of the story," the stuff I do at the beginning to make sure the story has a firm foundation. The writing tends to go smoother if I do this work on the front end.

My One Word... I FINALLY got mine. And this is the ONE. All the others before were forced and just didn't feel right. This is the one I was waiting on-- the one that didn't come from my little pea brain because it was what *I* wanted. What is the word? AFFIRM. (More about this below, see pic.)

Listening To... beach music, to get in the spirit of writing another Sunset Beach story. Pandora has a great beach music channel and I'm totally loving the songs. It just makes me a little sad to listen to them-- and pine for the sand and sun and waves-- in January.

Sharing Stories... My 8yo daughter just finished her last Kylie Jean book and we are very sad she's read them all. We are hoping Marci Peschke will write more! She's also enjoying Gooney Bird Green and is about to finish that series as well. Keeping this child in books is challenging because she races through stories. Ahem... just like her mama used to.

Randomness... I love planners, notebooks, pens, and all manner of stationery items. The other day I had my youngest with me at the grocery store and stopped to find a notebook for a new story and, after standing there while I looked and looked over each possible notebook, she observed that this was taking an awfully long time. I can still lose myself in school supplies, even though I am no longer in school.

In The Kitchen...  Crockpot meals are the name of the game at our house. We had herbed beef sandwiches last week that my family loved. My husband said it was the best flavored meat I'd ever made. Basically you put a roast in the crockpot, mix 2 Tbsp of Italian seasoning with 1.5 cups water, pour it over the roast and sprinkle a package of onion soup mix over the top of the roast. Cook all day (at least 8-10 hours, I'd say), shred and serve on buns with the juice in a dish for dipping. Some of my kids also put swiss cheese on their sandwiches. We served this meal with frozen French fries and sliced apples. Simple! Delicious!

Plans... I have a couple of busy weeks coming up-- lots of things out of the house. I don't like having to leave the house a lot because that means not a lot of writing gets done. I'm trying not to get worked up about it and looking towards February for more concentrated time at home to get writing done. January is flying by!

Loveliness... a new tradition I'm doing this year-- I write down "one amazing thing" from each day. The way I remember to do it is to keep the little notebook I'm using (I told you I love notebooks) by my bed. When I get in bed at night I make sure to write down my one amazing thing for that day. It's helping me to be more intentional about noticing loveliness, and capturing the little things that delight me lest I forget.

Photo of the Week...

This is a little thing I made to help me be mindful of my word. It's in my bathroom near where I get ready. I have my word, the definition of the word, and a couple of verses that mention the word. To find the verses I cheated a little bit and went on Bible Gateway and used the search bar to enter my word. I had to go through several different translations of the Bible to find what I was looking for, ultimately finding it in The Message. I am hoping this idea will keep me focused on this word all year long, and see it at work in my life.
Thanks goes out to Connie Thompson for inspiring me to do this through a post she wrote!