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As this past weekend neared, I found myself stressing out over being away from my shop for the weekend. This is truly busy season for me, and it just so happens that busy season is busier than it ever has been this year. I spend a large majority of my weekends working on fulfilling orders and keeping up with this blog, so an entire weekend away seemed more stressful than working all weekend. Really counter-intuitive thought process, I know, yet so true.

Andrew was determined that I would have a good weekend anyway. We had made plans several months ago to have a ski weekend in western Maryland with a large group of friends, so he reminded me that what had been arranged should be taken full advantage of. I felt a little less stressed out once we arrived at the house we had rented and I was finally forced to slow down.

Due to unusually warm temperatures, I felt less motivated to go skiing so I relaxed in the lodge on Saturday, reading my book, while the others skied. Sunday, feeling the itch to get outside in the 60 degree weather, we decided to go hiking. We took an trail that led up to an old coal mine site and through some hunting grounds where we found bullet-riddled signs and gorgeous views of the mountains and Deep Creek Lake. Streams of water were running through the mountains from newly melted snow and bright green moss was peaking its way out for some daylight. It truly felt like sping, oddly enough.

It wasn't the Rocky Mountain view we experienced a few weeks ago, nor was it anything like hiking in the strenuous terrain of the Tetons that we are often used to, but somehow the Appalachians still were just as fabulous. Maybe it was because I had finally decided to let go of what was stressing me out and really take everything in, even if just for a short weekend.


P.S. Thank you all so much for your touching words and comments on Friday! It was truly amazing to know how many of you support me and are behind me in pursuing what I love! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Last week I mentioned something while I shared my goals with you-- something that has been really bothering me the last few months. I mentioned the fact that a lot of people in my life (real world, not virtual world) don't seem to take my design business seriously. I'm not really sure what their reasoning is, but I get a lot of nods, blank stares, and laughs when I mention anything about my greeting cards and stationery. One person even stated, "Haha! You sell just ONE card to people?! Who buys just ONE card online?!"

I am a teacher now, but I always knew I wasn't meant to teach forever. I've always been a creative person and a free spirit and, quite honestly, teaching in a public school system doesn't cater to either of those qualities. I come from a family in which my mother and father are both artists and have their own businesses. They never had the office jobs or the standard professions that people in today's society seem to assume we must have in order to be taken seriously. This is not weird to me. It is normal. However, this is the only reasoning I can see as to why these people doubt me so much when I talk about my business.

I can tell I'm soon going to be ready to move on. That looks kind of scary when I see it in writing, but in reality I've told this to many people (including my assistant principal-- this isn't breaking news in case someone from school were to stumble upon this). I've just been feeling the itch.

I believe in myself. I know I can sustain myself (once I've paid off all of those pesky student loans). I just wish everyone around me would believe in me too. My parents, sister, and of course Andrew are behind me completely. Yet some days I still feel like the little kid that tells an adult that when they grow up they want to accomplish big things only to have the adult steer them in a different direction or suggest an alternate choice. I almost want to be that kid and yell back, "They aren't pipe dreams!"

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I decided to hang this print in my studio from Pen & Paint. It spoke to me for several reasons. 1) The vibrancy of the colors and the sketch itself is inspiring. 2) It reminds me that I AM going to do this. This is not some sort of silly pipe dream. Every day I tell Andrew, "I am going to have an awesome blog" or "I am going to sell ten of these cards in a week" or a general "I'm totally going to kick some ass today!"

And then I do it.

I do it because I know that I can. I've decided that it is going to happen and so it happens. And If I know I can make it happen, then friends, family, and other people around me, please encourage me. It's a rough road having only a few people on your side and sometimes you can use all of the extra motivation that you can get!

Does anyone else ever feel alone in their ambitions? Or feel as though they are not being taken seriously? What do you do to keep yourself motivated and on track to accomplish your dreams?

Never before have I felt more motivated to make some things happen in my life. Maybe it's partly the new year, but I'm trying to ride on this motivation as much as possible these days. It is hard to always stay positive, but I think that's really been the key in continuing to feel as though I can take on the world. A little more than a week into this new year, I've found a few things that have helped to keep me going.

1. Take control of your life. It is so easy to not do things just because you don't feel like doing them. I've often fallen into that rut where I told myself that I couldn't get something accomplished when it was such a simple task. I've been spending a lot more time telling myself that if it is something that I am physically or mentally able to do then I have absolutely no excuse, even if it pushes the boundaries of my comfort zone.
2. Find one thing to do for yourself each day. These might be simple things, but it has helped to either give me a few moments to relax or keep me motivated. One day I made myself a cup of tea, changed into sweat pants, and just sat and relaxed in a comfy chair for a good while with nothing else to worry about. I set a reminder on my phone to help me remember that Thursday will now be coffee shop day and that I will be leaving school right away on that day. I've made myself turn off for the 25 minutes during my lunch break to read a book. These things are definitely helping!
 3. Pay a compliment toward someone once a day. It'll make you feel so much better! Instead of dwelling just on your own life or the negative things happening around you it will help you focus on the positives. And you never know what could come from making someone's day!

4. Take a step toward at least one of your goals. New Year's resolutions are kind of like bullies. They make you feel bad all of the time and then you just want to curl up in a ball and never do anything again. I set goals instead of resolutions because I felt as though they were more manageable and would be something I could work toward and still feel good about. I have a daily planner that I use to help me out with this. I'm such a list maker that I have one for school and one for my blog and business. I list everything that I want to get done and in the end get to feel a sense of accomplishment when I cross it off the list.
5. Plan like crazy. It is nearly impossible to stay positive about what you want to accomplish if don't don't know what or how you're going to accomplish things. Make a plan with a timeline in terms of when things will get done. Break bigger goals into smaller tasks and chip away at them over a few days, weeks, or months. I tend to use a daily planner for this as well. I like to have a month calendar in which I can plot out what I'm going to get done over time, and then I use the daily section for my to do lists as mentioned before. Think ahead in terms of what you want to get done. For example, I started planning my Valentine's Day line at the beginning of December knowing that I wanted it to be finished by the beginning of January. It then became a priority to work on this new goal a little bit each day.

These things may seem simple, but they have really been helping me stay positive and motivated so far. I really hope that this will help you as well if you needed an extra little push to get something done!

How do stay motivated? Have you been able to stick to your goals so far?

I struggle with winter. Definitely struggle. I don't want to get out of bed because it is cold and dark. And I don't want to leave the house because I know my hands and toes won't be warm again for the rest of the day as soon as that cold air hits. As much as I would love to be a lazy homebody and stay in all day in these chilly months, we all know that's not realistic. Instead I opt for cooking to warm me up, and thankfully there are a few recipes that let me be a little lazy as well.

One of my favorites is a quick to prepare beef stew that is perfect for a hearty evening meal. I'm not a big fan of using the crock pot for everything as I think it tends to make things a little mushy. However, stew is one of those things that I definitely like to use it for. The end result is super moist beef and tender vegetables.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of beef (I get the pre-cut stewing beef at the grocery)
• 3 potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
• 2 carrots, cut into large chunks
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1 onion, cut into wedges
• 1 large can of whole cooked tomatoes, cut into chunks (I also pour the remaining tomato juice into the stew)
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 12 oz. bottle of stout
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 bay leaf

Directions

Wash and prepare vegetables. In a crock pot, mix beef cubes with flour, salt, and pepper until beef is fully coated. Add remaining ingredients to the crock pot and stir ingredients until well mixed. Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours or on high for 4-6 hours.

What winter weather recipes have you been cooking lately?

Tank Top - F21 / Sweater - Free People / Jeans - Gap / Booties - Nine West / Accessories - Nordstrom
There are two things that you should know. 1) I am tall. 2) I am a goofball.

Let's start with number one. 5'10" to be exact. And 6'1" with the booties. I have a tendency to bump my head while getting into the car, especially when I'm wearing heels. It's just one of those things that happens. I laugh about it in the moment. Andrew makes fun of me about it for the next week. You know, the usual.

Now for number two. I have a hard time being serious. My sarcasm is a constant. When I laugh, I cackle. And I bend over to keep myself from falling over from laughing so hard. I like to make weird faces. I am known by my students for my weird faces-- one for every situation that could possibly exist.

So I guess all that just to say that I'm a tall, goofball. And you're welcome for those last two photos.