candice mclean

Hello October | twenty13

Setting Goals!

October is here already. EEK! This year has blown by and I have so much left to accomplish from my 2013 list. Okay so to encourage myself to stayed focused (there's that one little word reappearing) and to stay inspired, I'm writing a list of goals for this month. Here we go:

1. complete 8 new recipes maybe something pumpkin like these yummy looking pumpkin bars

2. set a goal to photograph 5 families this month (already have 2 this saturday!)

3. paint my daughter's dresser with the yummy Annie Sloan paint i bought in the beginning of the summer (yeah i procrastinate. don't judge.)

4. go through the closets and dressers and prepare for Classy Kids Consignment sale

5. purge some things from my own closet and visit Sequels and Clothes Mentor to sell 

6. checkout Poshmark to sell some goods online

7. run 3x a week - get those running shoes on and just do it!

8. finish the redesign of my blog - coming soon!

9. paint some pumpkins - checkout these amazingly gorgeous lacelike pumpkins by the awesome alisa burke

10. visit a local farm for some pumpkin hunting fun with the family

 

What goals have you set? Any fall inspired pumpkin-ish craft projects? New recipes to try? Things to see and do in your area? Tell me.

Dear Void | Finding My Own Path

I've watched You've Got Mail many, many times. Too many times to count. I love the dialogue of Nora Ephron. She gets in my head so easily. So I find it funny. I find it funny that over and over I've watched this movie and just the other day, one thing popped into my mind. It was there churning and resonating like a pile of gooey annoying gum that you've stepped into that refuses to release from the bottom of your shoe. So, I googled those words and found it under quotes on goodreads.com. I liked it and I continued to think.

 

“Sometimes I wonder about my life. I lead a small life - well, valuable, but small - and sometimes I wonder, do I do it because I like it, or because I haven't been brave? So much of what I see reminds me of something I read in a book, when shouldn't it be the other way around? I don't really want an answer. I just want to send this cosmic question out into the void. So good night, dear void.
― Nora Ephron from "You've Got Mail"

 

You know that sort of thinking that causes a lump in your throat, an ache in your heart and a feeling of emptiness in your gut.. Right? Can you relate?

Then I asked myself... Do I live an ordinary life because I choose to or because I'm scared to dare a little more and really live my dreams? Do I lack the luster to stick it out? Do I lack the creativity? Do I lack the discipline? Shitty reality can really smack you down. So where do I go from here?

Like the quote... I don't really want an answer. Well not from an outside source because I know that only I can truly answer those questions.

Some things I know for sure... I love my life. I love my husband. I love my children. I love creating. Unfortunately, I feel that I've made excuses along the way. I haven't truly lived up to my own dreams. I've wanted my own career, my own identity. Somehow along the way I lost my own path. I chose to follow my husband and his career. I chose to stay at home to raise my children and I would not change that for anything. I've treasured my time at home with my children immensely. The truth is... I'm growing older and I have not accomplished all of my personal dreams and aspirations. So how do I get from here to there. Slowly, I'm working on it.

I do have faith. I do believe that God will lead me and I'll choose the path. The right path for me.

What's On Your...

 

Saw this post on Ali's blog. Because I love to make lists, I could not not do this one.

VANITY | My mother's jewelry box (a hand-me-down). A lamp. An empty frame (recently purchased... need to fill it).

PERENNIAL TO DO LIST | Gardening, photo sorting, photo editing, photo printing, project life catchup, spring cleaning, purging (sort through every closet and dresser), etc etc etc.  

REFRIGERATOR SHELVES | Organic 2% milk (kiddos), Almond Milk (me), Butter, Cream Cheese, Olives, Better Than Boullioun (chicken), Eggs, Baking Soda, Green & Red Grapes in see through containers, Leftover Lasagna.

ITINERARY | Planning a family road trip to see my parents in Florida (summer). Chip and I are planning a trip to Paris (fall). Also, making a Summer Bucket List for us - Things to See + Do!

FANTASY ITINERARY | Thailand (Chaing Mai, Bangkok). Cambodia. Vietnam. Indonesia. Mainland Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima). Sadly our duty was cut short in Okinawa, and we missed the oppourtunity to travel as we planned. AND... Paris (ALWAYS... ever since I was a little girl). Italy. Greece. Germany. Ireland. England. Spain.  

PLAYLIST | JUST TO NAME A FEW. Mumford & Sons. Agnes Obel. Cibelle. Maroon 5. Sheryl Crow. Snow Patrol. Ray LaMontagne. Bat for Lashes. Mat Kearney. Amy Winehouse. Adele. Florence + the Machine. Norah Jones. James Blunt. Coldplay. The Avett Brothers. Fleetwood Mac. Red Hot Chili Peppers. Rhianna. Cat Power. The Lumineers. Grace Potter. Of Monsters and Men. 

NIGHTSTAND | Heaven is for Real. Daring Greatly. Sweet Paul. A notebook for journaling. Ball point pen and black Sharpie. Hand/Body lotion. A glass coaster to hold my water at night. iPad. Kindle. iPhone. (charging) 

WORKOUT PLAN | Mon/Wed/Fri @ 9am - Run with Debbie. Tues/Thurs @ 9am Yoga or Cross Training Workouts. 

iPHONE | Instagram. PicTapGo. PicFx. Camera! Camera+ Hipstamatic. Pocketbooth. whitagram. PicLab. Map My Run. Flow. Yelp. Twitter. FB. Texts from Chip & Nic & Debbie. Missed phone call from Animal Hospital (confirming grooming appt for Bailey and Wally tomorrow). Photos (probably too many). Email. 

TOP 5 LIST | TRAVEL (explore). Be content with where I am and with what I have. FOCUS on the present. Be brave with my decisions and follow through. Breathe (be more patient).

BUCKET LIST | Explore our current area (PCS time around the corner). Travel with and without the kiddos. More romantic dates with Chip. Hiking - Waterfalls. More beach time. BE PRESENT with my children and relish every moment. 

MIND | Learn to live more in the moment. Let things go. Pick my battles with my children. Be creative with my Art + Photography. Ideas. Ideas. Ideas.

BLOGROLL | designmom | aliedwards | lifeingrace | alisaburke | fatmumslim

WALLS OF YOUR FAVORITE ROOM IN YOUR HOUSE | My home office. Sparrow (780F-4) by Behr Premium Plus. Red framed cork board to hold quotes, photos, inspiration. Samples of my photography. Thrifted 70s crewel artwork.

LIQUOR SHELF | Patron Silver. Tanqueray Ten Gin. Absolut Vodka. Margaritas | Gin Martinis - dirty with 3 olives | Vodka Martinis (they range... lemon, cosmo, chocolate)

LAST CREDIT CARD STATEMENT | Groceries - Costco/Sams/Trader Joes/Commissary/Wegmans. Gas - Costco/Sams.

SCREENSAVER | I'm boring. The starry one that came with my iMac.

TV EVERY NIGHT | Chip & I record our favorite shows with the DVR because our life is consumed with homework, after school soccer practice and tumbling. So, on our DVR right now | Project Runway. The Voice. Vikings. Vampire Diaries. Game of Thrones. Modern Family. Revenge. My older girls watch Vampire Diaries. Pretty Little Liars. Project Runway. The little kiddos watch Sponge Bob. Victorious. Jessie. Shake it Up. My Little Pony. Once Upon a Time.

52 Lists Project | lists

A few weeks ago, I saw a post by Ali Edwards featuring a new project that sounded intriguing. 52 Lists by Moore Seal. I jumped over to check it out and fell in love with the idea. I adore lists. They keep me sane. Truly they do. I have several lists always going at once. Everyday lists. Goal and dream oriented lists. To-Do lists (short term and long term). Birthday (forty2) lists as seen here. So when I saw this 52 Lists Project I had to join in.

I'm a few weeks behind so I'm playing catch up. Won't you play along too?

WEEK ONE // LIST THE WORDS THAT TOUCH YOUR SOUL

love, heart, joy, peace, faith, family, art, energy, comfort, believe, brave, courage, inspire, empower, dream, fantasy, imagine, encompass, thirst, driven, poet, poetic, carefree, enjoy, passion, diligent, honesty, practice, extraordinary, fantastic, taste, touch, feel, soulful, relax, multiply, grow, growth, concentrate, foucs, intent, intention, live, alive, bold, daring, awesome, story, capture, photograph, design, typography, photography, graphic, black, white, turquoise, chartreuse, ochre, dreamy, encourage, support, portrait, happiness, forgiveness, jesus, positive, endure, faithful

 

 

forty2 | sweet everyday life

this year i'm turning forty2 so i'm making a list of forty2 things to do, to see or to accoomplish by december 31, 2013. my focus is to enjoy the everyday. live simply. try new things. and live with intent. here we go.

1. run a 5k

2. bake forty2 cakes

3. read forty2 books

4. take a vacation with chip sans the kiddos

5. learn to say a few things in spanish (maybe forty2 sayings?) "si!"

6. run a 10k

7. complete forty2 diy projects around this house

8. blog more often with more joy

9. participate in a photo challenge (FMSphotoaday)

10. run a 1/2 marathon

11. make a book of my favorite forty2 quotes

12. take forty2 portraits of other people (preferrably strangers)

13. make a collection of forty2 random things (hmm??? shells, rocks, poems)

14. draw forty2 different flowers

15. practice more yoga

16. try forty2 new recipes

17. be a better menu planner

18. photograph forty2 pairs of shoes

19. draw forty2 portraits

20. write down forty2 words that inspire me

21. hold my breath for forty2 seconds

22. make forty2 homemade rubber stamps

23. take a family summer vacation (beach cottage or mountain lodge)

24. make a list of forty2 things that i'm thankful for

25. volunteer at a homeless shelter

26. using mema's pickling recipe... make my own pickles this summer

27. create a garden space in our backyard

28. take the kiddos on more nature walks (hiking the blue ridge mountains!)

29. attempt a family camping trip (i am not a fan of tents)

30. donate forty2 one dollar bills to random people

31. make forty2 different types of pizza

32. create forty2 designs for textiles

33. paint forty2 kokeshi dolls

34. go fishing with chip and the kiddos

35. take forty2 portraits of jj

36. crochet a scarf (i need to learn to crochet first!)

37. take forty2 self portraits

38. write more notes (hand written letters) to family & friends expressing my gratitude for their love

39. make dinner for a friend

40. take a class (any kind of class... online, art, photography, anything as long as i learn something new)

41. plan a fun girl's weekend away with my closest friends (wine tasting, thrifting, eating, sightseeing)

42. hug and kiss my children more often when they least expect it

No More Procrastination Here | sweet everyday life

It's a New Year and I'm feeling the urge to purge. Yesterday, I went through my master closet and weeded out clothes, shoes and purses. I have three big bags heading to the Goodwill! What a great feeling of accomplishment. My closet looks so organized and clean.

Okay so what I'm leaving out is my procrastination to put all of the Christmas decorations away. I pulled everything down and set it upon my dining room table the day after New Year's Day. It's still sitting there looking at me. Everything looks so nicely organized... Christmas trees here, Nutcrackers here, Santas here, Nativity set there; but for the life of me, I have no desire to drag all the bins from the basement to the dining room.

Yesterday, instead of packing the decor away, I lurked by the piles of Christmas decor sitting on my lovely dining room table looking oh so lovely and oh so organized, and I ended up in my kitchen with a mission.

The flow of the kitchen is truly important. Right? Please agree. After living in this house for almost a year, I felt like I needed to shift a few things around. I love to cook, to bake and to entertain. Plus, our kitchen is always full of bodies and projects so I needed to re-evaluate the flow for it all felt disheveled. I basically pulled everything out of the cabinets and shifted all of the contents. I am SO happy with the results. I now have a cohesive kitchen with... A baking section to include all of my bowls, mixing cups, whisks and yada yada yada. And... A cocktail section. Everyone say CHEERS! And... An everyday section for the the everyday things like plates, drinking glasses and utensils. Oh and one more... An entertaining section to house my platters, pretty dishes, serving utensils and so forth. Voila.

As always, there is never a dull moment in the McLean household. I was up all night with my son Connor coughing and vomiting. Fortunately, he was able to be seen this morning at the clinic and he tested positive for Influenza Type A. He is so sick and my heart breaks to see him miserable. So... my to do list for today has been shelved. However... I am staring at the pile of Christmas decor right now and it's staring me down. Time to pack it all away. No more procrastination here today. Oh... and I'll be pulling out the Lysol to disinfect the house. Pray for us that we do not all come down with the flu bug... especially me!

Anyone have a good and easy homemade chicken soup recipe? Please share it here in the comment section! Thanks. xo

*FOCUS* | one little word

Hello Twenty13. Hello to choosing my one little word. Hello to... What do I want to accomplish? What is my purpose? What are my goals? What areas of my life need realigning?

This idea of starting new and hitting the reset button is invigorating. It's like spring cleaning... out with the old and in with the new. I love what a new year offers. A new hope. A new vision. A new dream. Along with new inspirations and new goals. I look at it like I'm shaking off the bad habits, poor decisions and self doubts; and more importantly, I'm realigning my vision for a happy, simple and successful life.

I've had some hesitation and I've struggled with choosing my one little word. I've been going back and forth between focus and intent. I've decided that I want to live each day with more intent and less habit. In addition, I want to focus on life with intent.

 

focus /(fks)/

1. To converge on or toward a central point of focus; be focused.

2. To adjust one's vision or an optical device so as to render a clear, distinct image.

3. To concentrate attention or energy.

Okay so #3... yes I need to concentrate. No doubt.

intent /(n-tnt)/

1. Something that is intended; an aim or purpose.

2. Law The state of one's mind at the time one carries out an action.

3. Meaning; purpose.

 

And with perfect timing, I received Joel Osteen's Daily Message the other day (January 3rd) and it talked about FOCUS.

The verse... "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you." Proverbs 4:25, NIV

Joel writes...

What are you looking at today? Not in the natural, but with your spiritual eyes. In other words, what is in the forefront of your mind and in your heart?

In the natural, you will move in the direction that your eyes are looking. In the spiritual, it works the same way. Whatever you focus your mind and heart on, you will move toward. That’s why today’s verse tells us to look straight ahead.

And right there, I had an "aha" moment. Yes... FOCUS is what I need right now in my life.

Some of my goals and inspirations to FOCUS on this year include...

my faith

my family

my art

my business

my friendships

Have you given any thought about choosing one word for Twenty13? If so, what word have you chosen and why? Feel free to share your word and/or link your own blogpost here in the comments sections.

 

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Hello October | twenty13

Today is a new day!

“Today is a new day. Don't let your history interfere with your destiny! Let today be the day you stop being a victim of your circumstances and start taking action towards the life you want. You have the power and the time to shape your life. Break free from the poisonous victim mentality and embrace the truth of your greatness. You were not meant for a mundane or mediocre life!” 
― Steve Maraboli

 

This is my new mantra. Repeat it with me. Again and again. Today is a new day!

Paleo Diet | lifestyle

How did I jump onto the Paleo circuit? I've overheard a few conversations here and there about Paleo eating and I've even stumbled onto a few blogs who are raving about the concept. I'm a skeptic. I'm thinking... A new trend? A new fad diet? Well... this time I'm thinking not.

Last week as I popped into Costco for my normal shopping spree, I stepped over to the book table to take a quick lurk around and spotted this cookbook. Paleo Comfort Food? Sounds interesting and worth a look. And then I found this cookbook. I grabbed them curiously and next thing you know, I slipped them into the cart. After returning home and putting away my 100 rolls of toilet paper, I sat down with my two new finds and was left feeling hungry. Hungry for more knowledge and hungry for good wholesome food. I've tried a few recipes and I'm in love. Look for future posts featuring the recipes.

Past experiences. After a few failed attempts of changing my diet for a number of reasons, I'm convinced that I have to be diligent in changing my lifestyle. First, wipeout the word diet. My thoughts and reasons for the change? I'm tired. I'm tired of being tired. I'm tired of feeling like crap. I'm finally owning it and realizing the truth... it has to be what I'm fueling my body. It's obvious... it boils down to nutrition. I've attempted to eat and cook healthy for my family, but I'm now seeing that I need to rethink certain foods and eliminate them from our diet. Period.

Family history. My mother and her mother both were diagnosed with Adult-Onset Type II Diabetes. I'm determined to not become a victim to this unnecessary disease. My mother suffered a stroke, a preventable stroke, a year ago on August 4th. She allowed her lifestyle – her eating habits and lack of exercise – catapult her into uncontrolled Type II Diabetes. We're working on her diet and adding exercise to her daily routine. It is most frustrating to see her not want to change. In the end, I have to realize that she needs to make and want to make a lifestyle change. This is something I cannot force onto her. However, watching her has fueled my determination to get it right.

Goals. I have a few.

1. Incorporate healthy eating habits into our lifestyle everyday.

2. Exercise 5 days a week.

3. Loose 20 pounds.

4. Feel GREAT.

5. Be a healthy role model for my children.

running love affair? | goals

i have a love affair with shoes. i came out a while okay and divulged that fact. this just proves it.

running love affair? not so much. it's more like i have one of those love/hate relationships with running. i'm fascinated and have a total crush on running until the act of running partakes and then i'm hating it.

inside of me there is a girl who wants to run and loves to run. <insert the negative however> however it is the hardest dang activity ever. it's not my muscles but my lungs. after one mile, yes one dang mile, my lungs are burning. i feel like i'm trying to breathe through a freaking straw. <insert healthy however> however the idea of getting into a healthy routine of running daily sounds amazing. me and a trail with some tunes in my ear having alone time. strengthening my heart, my body and my mind. that is my goal.

rewind. two days ago i'm shopping for tate and new soccer cleats and i browse the women's running shoe section with adoration. they look so enticing. then i see a pair that speak to me. they taunt me. try me on. it doesn't help that i am a total sucker for great design. so i slip them on and oh man... i love them. i'm thinking... maybe i'll run more. maybe. just maybe. when i see they are on sale and the only 8.5 are on my feet, i think they are meant to be.

fast forward. test drive. yep, i took these bad little boys for a test drive and omgosh i love them even more. best dang $60 i spent. i literally don't want to take them off.

so here's to hoping i find my running mojo and sticking with the plan to run at least a mile a day and build to three a day. and there is a positive... i can always look down at my new shoes and be a happy girl.

you can find these bad boys here. you'll notice the price and yes i totally scored a bargain. love bargains. i purchased my shoes on base at the exchange and they were 20% off. wahoo. happy shopping and running to you. xo