November is over and done with. There were ups and downs and magic abound. First and foremost, again I utterly failed at NaNoWriMo. November has to be the worst time of year for me to try to write a novel. I had my birthday and I went on a trip. Oh, well. Maybe next year. I don’t plan to stop trying anytime soon. I came back with some great souvenirs from my trip though. Including the wand shown above. It was the wand that was recommended for my birthday and it’s made from reed.

2011 Reading Challenge

Valerie has

completed her goal of reading 100 books in 2011!

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102 of 100 (102%)

view books

On the other hand, I’ve finished my Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set a goal to read 100 before the end of the year and I’ve actually surpassed it. I thought I would make it, but I didn’t think I’d do it this soon. I can’t wait to see how many I’ll have read by the end fo the year all together.

Next, we got a dog! Her name is Oreo and she’s a pure-blooded German Shepherd puppy. Isn’t she so cute? We’re all still adjusting because we haven’t had a dog in years. lol After the New Year we plan to put her in obedience classes at either PetSmart or Petco. I’m actually kind of excited! I love the idea of being able to take a dog into a store. lol She’s growing so fast it’s ridiculous. It seems like she’s twice as big as when we got her.

Credited to Pinterest

Christmas shopping is underway and I’m actually almost done! I only have two more people to shop for. Pretty much all of my shopping was and will be done online. I now really just have to wrap the presents that I already have and get those last few. Unlike past years, I’m enjoying having this done pretty early. I took advantage of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales and it was great. I got great prices on the gifts with minimal effort. Not having to rush and stress myself out is really nice. Hopefully I can keep this up in years to come.

I just received by Life Planner from Erin Condren. There have been a ton of posts about this planner all over the blogosphere, which is how I heard of it in the first place. I’ve gone through so many planners in my life and I have definite ideas about what I like and what I don’t like. Ironically, most school planners tend to a lot of the features I like but with necessary features that I don’t need. I was tempted to make my own, but I’m not a book binder and a three-ring binder is not my cup of tea. So, when I heard about this ‘Life Planner’ and then looked at it on the site, I was absolutely fascinated.

First, about Erin Condren. This site has a whole host of customizable and personalized items. Planners, gift tags, stationary, business or calling cards, and, most recently, iPhone cases. They come in many different designs and colors. Everything on the site looks like something I want in my life or would give to someone else.

Now onto the planner I just bought. I love the layout of this planner and all of the features. When it comes to a planner, I love a to have a month view, followed by the weekly view of that month. I don’t like to have the months all in one section, followed by all of the weeks of the year. (If that makes any sense at all.) This does exactly that. For the first month, October, I have a full month view followed by the weeks of October, Monday through Sunday, spread out onto two pages. There is also plenty of note space. It’s amazing how hard that can be to find in a lot of planners.

I also like to have a plenty of space to write in. My handwriting is pretty large and bubbly, so I can use up space quickly when I write. I don’t want to have to try and squeeze my writing into a tiny little space. This planner has plenty of writing space for me.

I also love how each month has it’s own color theme. I get bored easily so this esthetic is very nice for me. Plus it helps me remain organized. It’s pretty and functional. Speaking of pretty and functional, the outside of the planner is gorgeous! I love the color scheme I chose and the font of my name on the outside of the planner. The ring binding looks strong and since it’s clear plastic it’s not too distracting for me. The entire cover is laminate so it won’t get too messy. So it’s durable, yet beautiful.

In the back, after the all of the months there is more space for random notes and places to put important numbers. Then there is a section of stickers you can use for the planner. These are for event reminders that are pre-typed, as well as some blank stickers for your own use. They come in a lot of different colors to help suit your needs if you like to color coordinate. (Like me.)

Following these is a double-sided folder. You can keep important papers or lists or anything you need to take with you. There is also a clear zipper pack in the back that you can keep loose items in. (Erin includes some extra personalized labels for you to try out, as well as some round paperclips here. So generous!)

Overall, I’m really loving this planner! I’m going to be really using this hard to see if it works out for me. I really hope it does. I need to be more organized again and hopefully this will help me do it. Anyone else using this planner or something else to be organized?

Disclaimer: I was not sent this planner nor was I asked to review it by anyone. I bought it with my own money and for my own personal use. All opinions expressed here are my own and completely honest.

November is just around the corner and there is so much that will be going on! First of all, NaNoWriMo is next month. That is the National Novel Writing Month and I participate every year. Or at least I attempt to. I have yet to succeed in writing the full 50,000 words in one month, but I refuse to give up. As I mentioned before, I’m thinking about writing a steampunk novel. I recently have become obsessed with steampunk books and so I figure it’s best to write what I like. So it’ll probably be end up being fantasy, but that’s about all I’ve got right now. I really need to start getting prepared this week. One more week to go!

Credited to weheartit

Next up is my trip to Orlando! This will be smack dab in the middle of the month, which will interfere with NaNoWriMo, but I refuse to not go. As I mentioned before, I’m going to Islands of Adventure to visit The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. I’m so excited about this trip! I really need a vacation right now, so this is the perfect excuse to get out of here for a bit. I’m saving money for a ton of souvenirs! I want to try all of the food and drinks and want to get a ton of stuff for myself.

Credited to weheartit

And of course there is my birthday on the 14th of November. (That’s what this trip is for!) There is no need for me to post my age for the world to see. It’s enough to say that I’m just feeling really old right now. Let’s just say that I’m another year closer to 30 and it sucks. Anyway, that is my upcoming month. What are you guys doing in November?

Well, I didn’t get to complete the photo challenge. I’m actually proud that I made it as far as I did. I’m not really known for my follow through, unfortunately. But I did get through most of the month, so yay me! I’ve been making plans for a trip in November and I got a bit caught up. More on that in another post. Anyway, if you want to see the pictures I did get to take I put them all on my Flickr account.

Credited to weheartit

In the meantime, I’ve been reading quite a bit lately. I think I burnt myself out on reading early in the year, but I’ve been bitten by the bug again. I’ve been reading like crazy and finally caught up on my plan to read at least 100 books this year. You can see my progress on my Goodreads page. 69 books and counting!

This is a new year and there are new things to see and do! I’ve finally figured out, after many years of failure, that I’m not really a ‘Resolutions’ type of person. I really don’t do well with those types of goals I think. My mind just doesn’t work that way. If I try to force I end up quitting way to early. I’m not the type of person that likes to feel I have to do something regularly, I get bored really easily. So I’m not going to do that this year. I’m really going for much more broad types of goals, more for improving my life in general and not make specific goals or resolutions. I think it’s best for everyone involved.

Credited to weheartit

Now, on to other things. This is a bit late but I figured I’d do quick run down on my book challenges for last year. I started a bit late for please forgive me. I didn’t really even start many of them, much less finish them. You can see all of the challenges I participated in on my book challenge page. They’ll be moving to the bottom of the page soon as I put up my new ones for this year. Of the five that I managed to join last year I completed 2 of them. I finished the Historical Reading Challenge and the Fantasy Reading Challenge. I do plan to join some more challenges this year, hopefully being able to have more time to read.

Credited to weheartit

That being said, I’m hoping that this year will be a great one. I’m really looking forward to starting fresh, despite coming into the new year with a cold. :/ (Christmas was so not fun, let me tell you.) But out with the old and in with the new. I have plans this this year! I’m hoping to be able to see them through to completion this year. *crosses fingers for luck*

Fall is here! It’s not cold here by any means, but it’s also not blisteringly hot either. Thank God. I like being able to go outside and feeling a breeze, as opposed to melting into the asphalt. I may have mentioned this before, but I love this time of year with a passion. It’s just so amazingly beautiful! Everything from the leaves to the fall clothes to the smells.

Credited to weheartit

It’s the middle of October and so much is going on! November is only in two weeks and coming fast! Next month is going to be crazy! First is NaNoWriMo. As always I am participating this year. I haven’t finished one yet, but I refuse to quit! One of these years I am going to manage to finish a novel in one month. Of course this year is going to be made even harder considering all of the things going on. :/

Credited to weheartit

Second on the list is my birthday! I turn a miserable 26 this year. Which means I am only 4 more years to 30. Where the hell did the time go? I want to be 25 forever! Ok, so it’s not that bad really. People say that I still look 16. (Which is good and bad) So it’s not like I worry about aging it’s just that I feel like time has gone by way to fast! I don’t feel almost 26.

Credited to weheartit

And last but certainly not least of the news, next month is also the family cruise! This year the family decided to go on a cruise for Thanksgiving. I’m so excited. We don’t have to cook or clean afterward and no one can try to bribe me into going shopping for Black Friday, because we are going on a 4-night, 5-day cruise to the Caribbean! I’m so beyond excited! I’ve never been on a cruise before so this will be a big first for me. I can’t wait!

I’m so sorry for being gone for so long! Life has been busy and yet boring all at the same time. I’ve been working a lot and that has be tired all the time. But also it means that I really haven’t done anything to blog about. lol I’m such a boring person.

Credited to weheartit

I am totally looking forward to fall though. I love this time of year! It’s been getting cooler here. And it’s actually raining. It sounds sucky, but considering it has barely rained in months I’m loving this! It’s really cooling everything down. I’m looking forward to bringing out my fall and winter clothes and shopping for more. It’s my favorite fashion season by far. I just love the layers and the scarves and coats and boots. It’s just great.

Credited to weheartit

Anyway, I’ve been reading a lot lately especially since I’m not really going out. I’m also catching up on my television watching. I’ve missed a lot of tv shows in the past year or so. So I’m catching up by buying the shows on DVD. I have to watch the last season of Gossip Girl since I’m totally lost in the new season already, and I’m catching up on House. Also, I’m into some of the new shows out this season, like Hellcats and The Big C.

Aside from all of that I’m also trying to clear out my clutter. So I’ve gone through all of my DVDs and books and I’m selling everything that I don’t want anymore on Amazon. It’s really cleansing to me to get rid of this stuff. I’m kind of a packrat and I don’t like to through anything away, but it’s getting out of hand. At least this way I can make some money as I’m getting rid of stuff. I’ve already made almost $30 and I just started on Friday.

I’m finally packing for my trip this weekend! We are leaving tomorrow (yeah I know I’m late) for my family reunion down in Jacksonville. I’m just excited to have some time off and do something other than work. Plus it’s the Peach Jam this coming week and I’m kind of glad that I don’t have to work for it. Something always goes wrong or there’s a shortage of vehicles, not something to look forward to in the least. :/

Credited to weheartit

So yeah, I’m packing doing this last minute shopping for things I need. Even so I’m pretty relaxed about it. I’m not really a panicker when it comes to last minute packing. I already knew the basics of what I’m taking anyway. I just need to finish the actual physical packing of it. lol And it’s funny because I really enjoy packing and figuring what to take (until I forget something anyway) but I can’t stand unpacking. I hate it with a passion! But I guess you can’t have the good without the bad.

Anyway, this post also serves to let you guys know I will be AWOL until about Thursday of Friday of next week. The hotel we are staying at is very nice but charges for WIFI so I won’t be taking my laptop. (It needs a rest anyway.) They do have a business center with computers but we’ll have to see if I have any time for posting while I’m there. I’ll try to stay in touch with my twitter account at least: @vivaciousv1114 but I will be honest, I’m not much of a tweeter. lol I always forget to keep up with it, even with an app on my phone. Well, have fun my friends and I’ll hit you up when I come back!

Health Habits
1. Exercise 30 minutes every day.
2. Eat breakfast every day.
3. Sleep 8 hours.
4. Avoid snacking between meals.
5. Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day.
6. Eat fish.
7. Drink one glass of water when you wake up.
8. Avoid soda.
9. Keep your body clean.
10. If you smoke, stop it.
11. If you drink, stop it.
12. Take the stairs.

Productivity Habits
1. Use an inbox system.
2. Prioritize.
3. Plan, but not too much.
4. Wake up early.
5. Check your email only twice per day.
6. Eliminate unimportant tasks.
7. Clean off your desk and room.
8. Automate.
9. Set strict deadlines.
10. Take one day off per week.

Personal Habits
1. Read 1 book per week.
2. Solve puzzles.
3. Think positively.
4. Make fast decisions.
5. Wait before buying.
6. Meditate 30 minutes per day.

Career Habits
1. Start a blog.
2. Build a portfolio.

Anyway, onto personal news! Not too much going on but I did finally go get an eye exam. Might as well us that health insurance that I pay for. My eyes didn’t change much but I decided to try out contacts again. Last time I went in I didn’t get the contact specifically for astigmatism and I couldn’t stand it but basically they told me to just bear it. :/ But I went with Pearle Vision this time and they were super nice. They didn’t have my exact prescription with the testers they gave me but told me to try them out and practice for a few hours a day while they order the exact ones. Then I’ll go in and pick those correct ones up and try them out for a few days or a week. We’ll keep trying them to make sure that I like them, then I’ll buy them if I like them. If not I can just go back to my glasses. I just like that they gave me the option. I’m never going back to that previous doctor. I’ll probably still buy a pair of glasses just to have on hand just in case, especially since my old ones are kind of falling part. lol