#Reverb12, Day 27: How Will You Honor Your Creativity?

Throughout the month of December, I’ll be participating in #reverb12: celebrating the successes of 2012, honoring the challenges of 2012, and planting the seeds for a rich and rewarding 2013. December is the perfect time to reflect on the year that has passed and start to manifest dreams for the new year.

Day 27 – How did you make time for creativity in 2012?
Looking back, is there one creative time or one particular creation that stands out for you? (Maybe you could share it here?) How will you continue (or start) making time and space for your creative passions in 2013?

I consider myself to be a really creative person, and that is shown most notably through this blog, the lessons I plan for my classes, and in the way I help students develop stories in journalism and layout ideas in yearbook.  The other way that I’ve really shown my creativity is in the way that I decorate my home.

In 2013, I’ll continue all of these things, but I’d also like to tackle a few more crafty pursuits.  I’ve seen several “want to do” craft ideas on Pinterest, including:

Motivation marbles

crochet

Jazzing up soup cans for a “wow” container, thanks to mosaic marbles.

Art journaling

2013 is going to be the year that I really tap into the creativity inside me that is waiting to bubble up to the surface.

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It’s Lucky 13 For Me

I’ve always loved Friday the 13th, even though most people think of it as an unlucky day.  As my Spanish teacher in high school once said, “how can any Friday be unlucky?”  My thoughts exactly.  And actually, ever since high school when I just had to be a little rebel (I was actually a really good kid), I decided that since everyone else thought of 13 as an unlucky number, it was going to be my favorite number.  It still is, to this day.

And this Friday the 13th is especially lucky because I have the entire day off.  And not just today (for semester break), but also Monday (for Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday), so I have a 4-day weekend.  I don’t have any special plans of going somewhere, but I do have a few things that I’m looking forward to:

Friday –

• Anusara yoga at noon today. BTW – yesterday’s Indian Temple Dancing that I was so looking forward to was cancelled.  Only they didn’t tell anyone.  So 4 of us showed up to take the class, and found out the bad news.  Not the best way to run a yoga studio, but the girl felt so bad that she offered me a card for a free tea at their Mandala Tea House.
• Find a new and interesting spot to take Sofi on a long walk.
• Begin to crochet.  I found a great video series on YouTube and my Happy Hooker book arrived earlier this week.
• Spend a solid hour or two reading.  Scale Warfare and I are reading The Life You’ve Imagined and I’m also interested in starting Hunger Games.
• Babysit my nieces for a couple of hours – maybe some Wii Just Dance?
• Continue my Sons of Anarchy marathon.  I’m up to season 4 now, and I love these characters.  It doesn’t hurt that Charlie Hunnam is so easy on the eyes.

Saturday –

• Zumba at 10am and then yoga basics at 12:15.  Looking forward to a great day of calorie burn.
• Watch my ‘9ers beat those Saints
• Long walk with Sofi at another new location.
• More crochet practice time.
• More reading.
• Catching up on Grey’s Anatomy.  I adore this show, but somehow I’m behind by a few seasons.  I’m going to use my Amazon Prime (which I’m loving!) to catch up and then hopefully watch the rest on Xfinity.

Sunday –

• Personal puppy training with Sofi and Tanya (our trainer).  I think I’ve mentioned before that I live on an incredibly busy street.  I have a really long driveway, though, and I’d love to be able to train Sofi  to stay in the driveway when I open the door or when we’re just outside.  I know it can be done because my sister’s dog is great about it.  Plus, Sofi is so smart and a really quick learner. I’m just so nervous because of the way that Lulu died.  So I figured it was worth it to hire our puppy trainer.  Tanya is coming to our house bright and early on Sunday (9am) to help us learn how to do this.  I can’t wait.
• Another long walk with Sofi.
• Get the house cleaned and organized.
• Candlight Yin yoga. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect way to end the weekend and get ready for the week ahead?
• Coffee with a friend?

Monday –

• Even though everyone will be out and about on Monday, since many people have the day off, I think I’m going to brave the mall to use they $100 gift certificate my parents gave me to Sephora.  Plus, window shopping is fun and it’s been forever since I’ve had time to just look around, so that might be nice.
• Another fun, long walk with Sofi.
• More crochet practice time.
• More reading.
• Get ready for the (short) week ahead – it will be the beginning of the 2nd semester, so the week should be a really positive one.  Fresh starts and all of that.

I can’t wait.  Even if you don’t have a 4-day weekend like I do, I hope you find some time do enjoy yourself.

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So much for that whole “day of rest” thing!

Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest, right?  Well for me, it was a day of getting things done, but I’m actually quite happy about it.

I got to start the day off with some fun with Sofi, a nice cup of  coffee (or two), and catching up with the news of the day (both from the newspaper and my friends’ FB posts).  Then I was off and not home again for over 6 hours.  In that time, I…

…took an hour and a half morning Bikram class with BeautyJunkie824 and burned 1387 calories. This was BeautyJunkie824’s first time doing Bikram, but you would have thought she was a weekly yogi with how naturally she was able to get into the poses – even the more difficult ones.  As always, she’s such an inspiration to me!

…enjoyed a long, leisurely chat with BeautyJunkie824 at Starbucks.  Every time we get together and I can see her 86 lb loss with my own eyes, I am so motivated.  She let’s me ask her any question at all about the VSG surgery.  Plus, I just love that I’ve made a friend whom I have so much in common with and who makes me feel so uplifted whenever we’re together.  Those are the types of friends I want – people who fill me up, not those who bring me down.

…braved the Sunday crowds at Target to pick up all the household essentials I’d run out of.  Hey, it’s not glamorous, but when Bella runs out of coffee filters, it’s an emergency, so I wanted to avoid that.  😉

…stopped at a fabric/craft store to pick up a few skeins of yarn and a crochet needle.  Learning to crochet is goal #7 of my 2012 goals.  I do have a question for those of you who know how to crochet or knit – do you think I need to spend $60 on the class I was going to take at a  local yarn shop?  The price includes a 2-hour class and a book, but that’s an awful lot of money. I saw a few books on amazon that got high marks from people who said they learned to crochet from reading the book alone.  I’m thinking I could save about $50 by just getting the book.  The class might be more social (which is goal #12), but saving money is goal #11, so…  I think I might buy the book, watch a few YouTube videos, and see what happens.  I can always sign up for the class later if those methods don’t work. Thoughts?

…came home just in time to join my sister on a walk with the dogs.  It was a gorgeous day today – high 60s and so sunny! Even though I was spent, it was nice to take a quick walk around the neighborhood and just soak in the beautiful day.

(OK, so technically, I wasn’t out anymore at this point, but I’m liking this ellipsis list thing, so I’m just going to go with it). 

…got myself organized for the week – finished laundry, planned dinners, picked out tomorrow’s outfit, and even set up the coffeepot for tomorrow morning (see I told you I needed those filters!).

…and finally found a bit of time to relax and release in a bath.  Ahhh, there’s no better way to ease out of the weekend and mentally prepare for the week ahead.  Last week I began this tradition for myself of taking Sunday night baths, and I’m loving it.  Showers are great during the week and even on Saturday, but there’s nothing like just letting go in a tub filled with bubbles.

I hope your Sunday was as enjoyable, and even more restful.

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