its january...

It's 60 degrees, and it's January. Yesterday it felt like spring cleaning needed to be done. I've been so lazy... I had stuff in my car from my trip home to Michigan at Christmas time. I just never made the effort to take it out. my room was also a disaster. I had started to put away Christmas nick-knacks and never fully finished. So yesterday i pulled everything out of the corners and off the floor and piled them on my bed, sorted through them, threw 2 garbage bags of paper/trash (yes 2! yikes!) away, and took my Christmas decoration boxes and gift wrap containers and a few other things downstairs to store on the shelf in the garage. I can now see the back wall of my closet, and my room looks more airy and spacious. ahhh... i even dusted the ceiling fan, which was (by the way) disgusting.
life is always a little crazy.
Last August I began my own free-lance art business. The Lord has been faithful with bringing me clients, friend, family, perfect strangers to commission me to paint something for them. It's been a really interesting experience. Scary at times, as I am BARELY making enough, and really need to make more so I can pay off debt. I'm sorry to say I have debt... ugh, it's such a terrible thing to be in. I always knew I was in danger of being in it, I used to make a whole lot more and would barely squeak by each month, mostly because I would buy stupid stuff. If I could get paid to shop, I would make a whole lot of money ha ha. So anyways, art... It's been really great. I've become more confident in my own abilities, and each time I take on a project, I feel like I get better, which is wonderful.
There's so much for me to be working on, figuring out how to get my name out there, print off business cards, figure out if I need to get a website up and running..
and not just the art stuff, but over all.. I really want to get my act together. To be honest, I feel like most areas of my life are a mess. And it's time for spring cleaning. And not just spring cleaning, but everyday upkeep.
area 1: art business
area 2: weight loss
I have been overweight for majority of my life. Every year I try to make an effort to lose it, and tend to lose some but just can't seem to keep up the intensity, and eventually fall back into old habits, namely eating what ever the hell I want to and sitting on my butt. But I want this year to be different. I started the Daniel Fast on January 3rd. That essentially means I'm eating like a vegan: no meat, no dairy, no wheat, and no peanuts. yesterday I decided to allow myself peanuts, as I don't think I'm getting enough protein. I haven't decided how long I'm going to stick with the Daniel Fast, but I'm wondering if I should stay with it until I've reached my goal weight.. which means that I'm gonna be a vegan for a while. I have 72 pounds to loose. yup, that's right, 72. EEeee gads.
Trying to come up with a plan for getting myself excited about the gym... at least its warm out so I'll want to walk, very excited to go out to the green ways again. :)
I think I'm gonna track my activities on the president's challenge site. For every day of 30 minutes of activity you get a 5th of a star. After 5 days a week for 6 weeks, you get an award. You have to order and pay for the award (I think its a patch or something) which is more than slightly lame, but still.. it's an award. ha ha.

I've also been trying to push myself to do something creative everyday. This may include taking pictures, writing a poem, writing a blog, painting, doing a collage... but I really would like to get myself in the habit of creating everyday. I think it's an important thing, it gets my mind working in the right direction.

alright, I'm off to the gym.

love ya
steph(y)