Juicy July - 2019 - Vision card updates

Back in January I wrote about the Vision cards I made for this year.

About this time of the year I go back to them and see if I've accomplished anything.  I make notes on the back to document what I have done and what still could be done in the next six months.  

Travel was one of the cards and unfortunately we haven't been able to do much of that.  I don't see it happening this year either but we did make a plan to go to Yosemite with some friends in July 2020.  I'm not giving up on this quite yet though.  We went to some San Jose Sharks hockey games which were new experiences for me so there is that.  

Health was another category and I'm pleased to say I made a big change in this department.  In March I started following a Keto plan and to date I've lost 29 pounds.  Still have a way to go but I'm happy with 29 pounds in a little over three months.  Walking our new dog is helping but also really paying attention to what I'm shoving in my face is the biggest thing.  

Money is an area that needs some serious work for the rest of the year.  We had a small setback because a job I contracted for did not last as long as anticipated.  We'll be okay but it will take some good planning on our part.  

Connecting with family and friends is on my list.  We have gone to a couple of baseball games and out to dinner with different friends so far this year.  This weekend I'm taking my mom to visit my sister who we don't get to see very often.  

My crafty business is a top priority and I've done some things to try and increase my presence online and in my Etsy shop.  I have made a couple of sales and I am about to make a presentation to a local sweet shop who rents their back room for parties.  I'd like to offer to make mini-albums for sale to their customers.  Cross your fingers!  I also did the YouTube video of my studio. 

Finally there is Home.  We've done a lot of shifting things around with the addition of the studio in the backyard.  That made it easy for me to take craft supplies and put them all in one place.  We reorganized some of the storage in the kitchen too.  The biggest addition to the home though has been our new dog, Benny.  He is bringing such fun into the house.  

I really like this way of making my goals turn into realities.  It is much better, for me anyway, than just making a list of "resolutions" at the beginning of the year.  I don't feel like I'm failing if I can get at least one thing accomplished.  How about you?  Have you taken a look at where you are mid-year?  

Hope everyone has a great 4th of July.  We will be lighting the safe and sane type in front of our house as usual.   

Juicy July - 2019 - Here we go...

Juicy - full of juice, interestingly scandalous, temptingly appealing.  Synonyms of fascinating, colorful, exciting, thrilling.  Sounds like a good name for a month, right? 

Let's see if we can start the month out with some juicy stories. 

First, under fascinating and exciting, our local mall had a shooting yesterday and while I was not inside the mall at the time, my husband was in the parking lot at a booth selling fireworks for our local Pony Baseball team.  I happened to be on my way to bring him a sandwich when I saw traffic backing up and police car lights both in front of me and coming up behind me, sirens blaring.  All in all there must have been 100 different emergency vehicles from all over the county.  The story is that there were two shooters inside the mall and two people were shot.  It was not a random attack, rather a deliberate thing between these four people.  We are not sure yet exactly why.  Unfortunately, the local mass transit, BART, station is on the same property as the mall and at least one of the suspects was able to get on the train and go across the Bay to Oakland.  We have not been told the identity of either the victims or the shooters as the police are waiting to see surveillance camera videos but the boys that were shot were about 14 and 16.  Way too young.  They were taken to the ER in San Francisco, one in critical condition and one in serious condition.   




The police set up a command center in the parking lot across the street from the mall.  I caught these pictures as I was driving home.  Lots of armed uniformed men crossing the street with rifles out and ready to go.  It was not really scary to me, but it definitely was not something we see everyday.   

Today the mall is open again and I suppose business as usual, although perhaps a few more police present. 



More on the colorful side, my entries into the Escapist Coloring Club for July.

I think I'm going to take a break from coloring these card toppers and go back to Alice in Wonderland or something else.  After a while the flowers all start looking the same to me.  I do kind of like the feather and the owl though. 

That's it for the first installment of Juicy July.  How about you, any fascinating things to tell me?