Checking in with My 2024 Goals: Weekly Plan with Me

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In this week’s plan with me I am re-visiting the goals I set at the beginning of January to see what’s working and what is not.

I started off with 3 priorities this month. The first one was to be awake at 7am and to be doing more movement and stretching. If you have been around here a bit you may know I am a night owl and being up and active at 7am isn’t a strength of mine. Still, it’s something I would like to move towards so I decided to keep it on my list for now.

My second goal was to post more consistently-day and time of posting-here on the blog and my channels. I have done pretty well this past week and it’s something I want to keep focusing on. Although as I am writing this blog post a tad bit later than what I would call “consistent” it’s also important to understand that life happens!

The third focus was daily writing and editing. This is meant for my fiction writing and not my blog writing and I am still struggling with forging this habit. It is important to me so I am going to keep focusing on building this habit.

I like to think of these priorities as my ideal and any step I take towards them is a win for me. I may not be writing consistently but I have cleared my desk that had become a mess and made a beautiful space to write.

In the end I kept my priorities the same and then I set about doing my decorating and adding the appointments and “to-do’s” for the week. Once I did that I went through and added my content for the week and also created my new tracker. I ended up abandoning my time blocking for this week since it wasn’t working and I will see if I want to bring it back next week.

So that is my planning for the week. I would love to hear how you check in with your plans so please feel free to comment below.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Bible Journal Process Video

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Today I thought it would be fun to record my latest bible journaling and I thought you might enjoy coming along with me.

The Bible I am using in this video is an ESV version and you can find the same one here. I received mine from my church but it’s one of my favorite Bibles. I admit to struggling when it comes to making art in my Bible but I am slowly starting to relax and just enjoy the reading and then adding color, texture, ribbons and washi.

Today I did more art than I normally due. I usually sit down and read for a bit highlighting passages with my colored pencils. I love using colored pencils because they don’t bleed through the pages. I have tried a few highlighters meant for Bibles but they always bleed through.

Today, before I opened my Bible I decided to just randomly pull out some items from stash. I had journaling cards, die cuts, stickers, washi and my favorite tempura paint sticks. If have been around a while you know how much I love these! They are paint in a stick and they dry quickly. Today I used them as a gesso of sort to cover up the study notes on my page so I could add some other elements.

I really had fun with this page and it didn’t require any artistic skill on my part.

I added color and flowers and I copied down 2 verses. Overall it was a really nice practice.

If you would like to spend some time in your Bible with me you can watch the video below and journal along.

I hope this inspires you to delved into the Word in a fun and colorful way. A way that feels like you.

 

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

My 2024 Journal Line Up

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I have taken a new approach to what I focus my attention on. Taking time to not pick things that sound good or fun but that are supportive of the big things I am looking to call into each day.

The truth is I have countless ideas. Countless projects I would love to work on. Sadly, as a human being my limitation lies in the realms of time and energy. While I am grateful to almost never be bored I am also easily distracted by ideas.

When I sat down to curate this years journals I wanted to make sure I was picking practices that support what I am working towards and how I want to spend my days. I feel good about the line up I have but I am also planning to re-evaluate everything as the year goes and to not be afraid to cut things out or maybe add in something new.

So here are my current journals for this year.

First up is my 5 year journal. I saw this video and loved the idea. I have kept a small journal where I write down just a few things from the day before but I loved the idea of having one book for 5 years. I picked up this journal which is going to be short a few pages but that I thought would work well for this practice. I also decided to make a cover for it to dress it up a little. I followed a great tutorial from Pin Cut Sew that you can find here if you want to make your own.

Next up is my catch all journal. This was originally going to be a bullet journal until I realized, again, that while I love watching videos of people and their bullet journals that type of planning doesn’t work for me. So I ended up repurposing this journal into a catch all.  A place where I can write out ideas, work through plans, make lists-whatever comes to mind. I have no preciousness about this journal, I scribble in it and I absolutely love it! I got this journal as a 2-pack (the same pack I used for my current reading journal) and I am so happy with it.

Next is what I think of as my morning pages journal but really I write in it whenever. It’s the journal where my thoughts and everything I am going through gets written down. I have a cover I purchased years ago off of Etsy and I refill it with blank journals when it’s full. I love writing in this but it’s one of the practices that once I fall out of it is so hard to get back into. I often will write in it on our patio under the tent during the spring and summer and it makes me so happy. I really want to bring this practice back to help me with my writing goals.

Next is my “Be Still Journal” which is a book I created for my prayer practice. It holds space for daily prayers, verse of the day, words God has spoken to you along with blank journaling space. I plan to list a few in my shop along with some handmade goodies but in the meantime you can purchase your own here if you wanted.

Then I have 2 sketchbooks that are part of the year-long art class I am taking with Carla Sonheim. These will be where I work through the different assignments throughout the year.

Last up is this big and beautiful sketchbook that I purchased originally for the class but then decided I wanted to do something else with it. I have no idea what that something else will be but I feel like I want to make it part of a daily art practice. I am giving some space to this one to see what unfolds and I’ll be sure to share with you once I’m done.

And of course the last one, which I forget to mention in the video, is my Reading Journal which I shared with you yesterday.

I hope you enjoyed this little look into the journals I have picked out for the year. I do plan on sharing them with you as the year goes on and if you would like to know more about any one in particular just put a comment below.

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

My 2024 Reading Journal

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I am really excited to share with you my new reading journal.

The idea of a reading journal never really occurred to me. I have kept a list of all the books I read each year for a while but I never did more than that. I made a reading journal last year sometime but never did anything beyond that so when I went down the rabbit hole of seeing all these beautiful reading journals people were creating I felt completely overwhelmed.

Thankfully I came to my senses and decided to make a journal that fit with who I am and would capture things that were fun to me in an easy, no pressure way.

I ordered this journal off of Amazon originally to be a writing journal and quickly realized it wouldn’t work for that purpose and how I write. Instead I decided to cover up what I had already written with some 0ld papers in my stash and to add some washing and create a few pages of things I wanted to track in 2024

First up is my reading goal of 70 books read this year. I increased my goal based on what I actually read in 2023 and I feel pretty confident that I will be able to read that many. I’m thinking the first page might be used for books covers of what I read.

Then I added a page to just write out the books that I read. I would love to print out the covers but at least if I write them down I have them listed and I can always go back and print off the covers at another time.

I also added a “books acquired” page to my journal. This page is going to be books I buy or pick up from the Little Free Library. It will be fun to see how many new books join my collection in 2024 and where they come from.

Then I added a page for all the books I borrow from the library in 2024. I know this can also be tracked digitally but I like written records and I am curious to see how many books I borrow this year.

Next up is a list of all the books from the Agatha Christie Mystery Challenge from the 52 Book Club. Along with their 2024 Reading Challenge. I thought this would be a good way to help choose what book to read next if I’m not sure or another challenge I might like to take part in. It’s a bit redundant but I also included a list of all the Miss Marple books. I have never read any of those stories so it seemed like a fun list to keep.

And that is all I added. I like the idea of having lots of open space for things to come and I’m considering a monthly round up of what I read that month but I want to keep it easy and fun so I can keep up with it.

How about you have you ever kept a reading journal? Are you doing one this year? I would love to hear about it!

Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

 

Plan with Me: Habit Tracking & Time Blocking

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Last week I shared a plan with me video and then found myself sick by Tuesday which meant all of my pretty plans didn’t happen.

I am trying to be very conscious this year about what it is I am trying to accomplish and making sure it aligns with the things that matter to me most. Adding something to a list every week that I am just not doing isn’t going to help me reach any goals and not giving myself grace when things happen is also not going to support me and the goals I have.

We get sick, we have bad days and plans don’t work out. What I am trying to do this year is to really connect with my plans and re-visit with them each week to make sure they are still in alignment with what I am working towards.

Handwriting my Habit Tracker and Time Blocking schedule is really helping me with that. I am able to recognize that right now, focusing on my dissertation and course work isn’t best suited for the headspace I’m in right now. I don’t want it to fall to the wayside but I also need to be realistic about where I am right now.

So I removed a few things this week like my coursework, editing my writing and daily walks. Since I haven’t been writing daily-which is my highest priority, there is no sense in focusing on editing. With the weather right now and the fact that I am just starting to feel back to my normal energy level letting daily walks go for this week made sense so I can focus on stretching instead.

I really like this way of connecting with the habits I am trying to cultivate. It’s my hope I won’t be beating myself up for not doing something and rather looking at why it wasn’t done, do I still need to do it and if there is a better way to approach it. It also keeps me from having things on my list that I think I should be doing rather than the things I am meant to be doing.

With the time blocking I am basically splitting my day into 4 parts and deciding what activities are most like going to be done during these times. This isn’t for tasks like “laundry” but rather meant for the things that really matter to me and I want to make time for. I took in to account how I feel at different times of the day. Since I am not a natural morning person (much more a “noon” person) that wouldn’t be the best time to try and practice my flute or work on my French lessons. My brain is not nearly awake enough for that.

By plotting the general time I am planning to do certain goals it feels like I am leaving more space for things to happen spontaneously throughout the day which I also love. As much as I love the idea of planning out each minute of the day I am not that person. I love leaving lots of room for the unknown or to follow a burst of inspiration here and there.

So that is what I am working on today. I hope you enjoy this little look into my planning day. If you have any questions about what I am using please feel free to comment.

 

Until next time…

–Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante

My January TBR & 2024 Reading Goal

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Welcome to our first Book Club for 2024!

I am happy to report that I did meet my Goodreads goal of reading 52 books last year and actually I exceeded it in reading 56 books which I am really happy with! If you are on Goodreads please hop over and friend me-it would be so nice to have more bookish friends.

For this year I decided to increase my reading goal to 65 books and with one short story already under my belt I am feeling pretty good. At the very least I know I won’t ever run out of books I want to read. The list just keeps on growing! I went to pick up a few books I had on hold at the library and found another one while on line. Too many books, such a lovely problem.

For January I have picked out a few books I am hoping to get through. The first is “Adorning the Dark” by Andrew Peterson. This is a Christian book that is focused on the creative practice and the struggle we can feel when bringing light into the world. I am really enjoying it and I purchased myself a copy. I am using this book as one of the exercises for The Year-long art class I am currently taking with Carla Sonheim.

Next up is “The Appeal” by Janice Hallett. I saw this book on BookTube and decided to give it a shot-I’ve heard lots of good things. I wasn’t able to get it read in December like I planned so this is moving over from last month.

“The Secrets of Winterhouse” by Ben Gutterson is the second book in the Winterhouse series. I purchased this and book #3 after reading the first book. I really love the series so far and I’m excited to delve back into the mysterious hotel.

Lastly I have “The Real Wallis Simpson” by Anna Pasternak. I was watching a documentary about Wallis Simpson and the former King and it sent me down the rabbit hole that lead to finding this book. I don’t read much for biographies so I am curious to see how I do with this one.

So that is my plan for January. To hit my goal of 65 books this year I need to read more than a book a week but usually I manage that when I couple it with audio books so I will be sure to share with you any additions next month.

I would love to hear what you are reading and feel free to link your bookish blog posts in the link party below.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Until next time…

-Michele, aka The Dreaming Dilettante