I’ve always been a list-y person. I make lists for everything, but I especially like making lists and setting goals for how I can better myself as a person. Things I want to do, habits I want make a higher priority in my daily life, self-improvement, etc. Several years ago, I did a 20 Before Twenty challenge and I really enjoyed the process. Then right after graduating college, I started another challenge, called the Real Life list. That challenge really had no deadline, so I thought it would be easier to access and update as a page like this. So feel free to follow along as I fulfill dreams! (Make your own list too!)

Self-Improvement:

Travel:

  • Plan a vacation that doesn’t fall on a typical school break. Is that even possible? I originally had in mind to go on a nice fall vacation sometime. But then I realized that Drew works in a school and Fall is my busiest season at work! So for us, it is the worst time to go on vacation! Our California road trip we took in April is probably the closest thing to a non-school-break-vacation as it is going to get for us right now.
  • Plan more small weekend trips! There are many places in Louisiana and the surrounding areas that I’d like to explore. (Monroe, Shreveport, etc.) — We have visited Ocean Springs, MS, multiple trips to Gulf Shores, Alabama, several trips to Houston, TX, and Avery Island, LA.
  • Plan a trip to Texas! (Other than a quick stopover on a flight to Cali, I’ve never been to Texas and it is super close to Louisiana!) Checkmark! Drew and I went on a quick weekend trip to Houston last January! We even stopped at IKEA to get a few things to build our 12 ft long office desk! Then we went again to go to Quilt Market! And again, when we went on a trip to Austin, TX.
  • Plan a trip back to Europe (hopefully sometime in the next few years). I want to visit Kristine in Denmark and Jacky in Germany/Switzerland, would also love to go to Italy, Greece, Ireland/Scotland (where my Wallace ancestors came from forever ago), and a million other places. Drew wants to check out the craft beer selections in Belgium. — APRIL 2016 – It was amazing!!

Creative/Career Improvement:

  • Work on creating repeatable patterns in Illustrator and start a surface-pattern design collection. DONE!! Bonnie Christine’s Design Surface Patterns from Scratch Course on CreativeLive was awesome (she also has some shorter ones on Skillshare), as was the weekend I spent in NYC at a Fabric Design Workshop. I’m still working on developing a greater portfolio of collections, but I have a mini portfolio of designs done so far and I’ve printed several of my own designs on fabric on Spoonflower!
  • Take calligraphy and letterpress classes. (I joined the New Orleans Lettering Arts Association in Fall 2014 and I took Melissa Esplin’s I Still Love Calligraphy Course in Spring 2015.)
  • Sign up for a ceramics class. (One that Drew and I take together?) DONE! Read about the ceramics class I took with my friend, Christina, at a local studio, here. Loved learning wheel throwing! Overall in 2015, I ended up visiting my local studio for ceramics classes weekly for almost half the year!
  • Get better at working with my Wacom tablet. DONE! I’m sure I could still improve my skills, but I use it all the time for hand lettering, illustrating, and pattern work!
  • Spend more time watercolor painting. A series of sketches, plein air paintings, landscapes, etc. (Watercolor was my first love!) — while not quite watercolor, I have gotten into the habit of sketching/painting in India ink to turn into patterns.
  • Design stationary for myself. Not sure I really need this?
  • Explore more fabric paintings. (You can see a few fabric paintings that I did for Christmas gifts, here, and I stretched another whole stack, turned them into paintings, and displayed them at my RAW artist show.)
  • Make a quilt! DONE! In July 2015 I went to this Cotton and Steel Patchwork Weekend Workshop at Craft South in Nashville and started what became my first real quilt! You can see it finished, here. (I’d done one patchwork top before that I stretched like a canvas and painted on in college). Then I pieced, quilted, and bound my value quilt! LOVE quilting so far and already planning other designs!
  • Update P.S. Designs’ Portfolio. (Did this somewhat, but lately I’ve stepped away from P.S. Designs to focus on other creative interests.)
  • Create a more consistent brand for myself (across all media). (Done! Check out my updated art portfolio site and updated blog design.)
  • Open an Etsy shop? (Not sure I still want to do this one…)
  • Spend more time crocheting and working on projects that I enjoy. (Check! In 2014 alone, I made two crocheted baby blankets for family, crocheted three scarves, worked on another baby blanket, make crochet snowflakes for our Christmas tree, and started a crocheted afghan for our living room.)

Home Improvement:

  • Make time for more DIY/home projects. (fabric roman shades for the kitchen, refinish Drew’s dresser (see it here), paint/stain Drew’s desk (we got rid of it when we built our 12 ft long double desk), makeover the white cabinet in the foyer, hang more art in the hallway, paint some walls?, etc.) See our office makeover, how we built our 12 ft long double desk, the rooms we painted, our living room gallery wall, Drew’s dresser makeover, and our foyer shelving for a few of our recent house projects. I feel like we can always spend a little more time doing DIY projects, but we’ve about gotten to the point that there isn’t much left for us to do in our apartment, minus completely renovating the kitchen (which we likely won’t do since its a rental!). I’ve got a few more furniture pieces to find/upgrade, but other than that I’m happy with our little house! See it here.
  • Make a welcoming entryway area in our foyer. (mirror on wall, bench seat, baskets for shoes, coat hooks, art, etc.) DONE! August 2015, check it out here.
  • Visit more flea markets and estate sales! Can’t beat great vintage finds! (We’ve been working on it!)
  • Frame and hang more of my own artwork. (You can see this in our Foyer/Living Room here and here)
  • Make our house feel more cozy and more “us.” Hang more photographs. (We made great strides in 2014 on this! See our office makeover, how we built our 12 ft long double desk, the rooms we painted, and our living room gallery wall.)

Goals for Drew and I:

  • Work on keeping our marriage healthy. More date nights (We’ve been making time for this almost every week!), time with each other away from the computer, etc.
  • Work with gazelle-like intensity on our debt pay off (Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover). Our goal is to have all car/student loan debt paid off as soon as possible, in the next 2-3 years. (UPDATE: As of January 2014 Drew’s Car is paid off! As of October 2014 Student Loans in Drew’s name are paid off! As of April 2016 we are DEBT FREE!!!)
  • Eventually, buy and start remodeling a house.
  • Start a family! (Our goal is to get our debt paid off first!) — In October of 2014 we got a kitty named Violet!

P.S. Here are my specific goals for 2017!

“The grass is green where you water it.”