Goals // November 2014

1) I started Outlander by Diana Gabaldon in early October (I think), and have been reading it sooooo slow despite the fact that I love it.  For some reason, I've just not been in the reading mood lately.  I'm ready to jump back in though.  I'm just past the point where the finale of the show left off, and I can't wait to read what happens next.  After I finish Outlander I'm going to jump into the next book in the series: Dragonfly in Amber.

2) Due to a family health emergency in October, I fell way short on my illustration plans for my Etsy shop, and now that everything is starting to fall back into place I'm excited to get back into the swing of things.  If you have any suggestions on movie or TV characters you'd like to see let me know!

3) Matthew and I used to go hiking every single Sunday.  It was the one thing I knew I could look forward to consistently every week.  For whatever reason we stopped going, but starting tomorrow we're back on it again.  I'm so excited!  Get ready to be bombarded by nature photos again :)

4) Just like my reading habits, my blog posts have been nearly non-existent.  I have a calendar full of planned posts that I just need to block out some time for.

5) Matthew and I are making a healthy lifestyle change together and I can't tell you how excited I am about it.  Back in February (ouch!!!) I posted about my weight loss plan and not only did I not commit to it, I gained 10 more pounds!  Despite my solid planning and good intentions, I just gave up on it.  Now that Matthew is committed to making a lifestyle change as well, it's going to be a lot easier to stick to.  It's so difficult to stay with something like this if you're doing it alone.  Now we can exercise together and make dinner together more often which will be fun :)  I've got a running schedule set up as well as a daily workout plan that I'll share sometime soon.  My weight loss goal for November is to lose 7-8 pounds.

What are your goals for November?

Goals: July 2014

1) 25 Illustrations.  I plan on cooking up AT LEAST 25 new digital illustrations to incorporate into items for my Etsy shop.  My plan is to open shop with at least 40 items and continue adding from there.  I'll definitely share as I go!

2) Paint Bathroom.  My bathroom is so messy right now and covered in wallpaper.  I'm ready to tear it down and slap some fresh paint on the walls.  I have a vision of what it's going to look like already and I'm totally excited to get started.

3) Paint Office.  My Office/Craft Room hasn't come very far in the way of "making it my own" since I moved in 3 months ago, and that makes me sad.  I have like 12 or more boxes to unpack in addition to the 6 crates of DVD's that need to be displayed.  I want to set up a shelving system for them on the wall, but I HAVE to paint first.  I think I've decided on the color(s) I'm going to go with, and so now I just need to make a run for paint.  I can't wait to share before and afters!!

4) Buy a new printer.  I've decided that in addition to selling buttons/magnets/pocket mirrors, I'm going to sell prints as well.  I hate the idea of having my prints done by someone else, and think I'll be much better off if I can print them at home myself.  I've picked out the printer I want already, so now I just need to set aside some money.

5) Lose 6-8 pounds.  My ultimate weight loss goal is to lose at least 50 pounds, and it seems so much less intimidating and discouraging if I break it up into tiny bits.  Losing 6-8 pounds per month is reasonable I think.

***TREAT YO SELF***

If I reach all of my goals this month, I'm splurging and getting a new tattoo!  Yay!!!

What are your goals this month?

Blog Makeover: The Changes Ahead

A mating pair of Monarch Butterflies we spotted at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

After much contemplation, and reading through Elsie and Emma's Blog Life e-course these past couple of days, I've come to the conclusion that I am going to make a few changes in the content and delivery of the blog.  I'm not quite sure where my blog currently falls as far as categories go, but I'd like to focus more on my photography in particular.  I'm still going to be sharing photos of my Etsy shop progress (I promise it will be open at some point), my latest movie obsessions, and what's going on in my life (including recipes and reptile care).

I'm currently in the process of planning a blog calendar and deciding on a schedule for posts, so it may be a little while longer before I'm back to blogging on a regular basis.

Is there anything in particular (photography related or not) that you'd like to see on Oh Rocky!?  I mentioned in a comment that I would be sharing a few blog design tips/tutorials at some point as well, so if there's anything specific you'd like to know how to do please let me know!

I'm ready to get back into the swing of things guys, and I'm super excited about the new changes I'm going to be experimenting with :)

Hope you're all having a fantastic week!

P.S.  What do you think of my new blog design?

Money, Making, and Moving

If you've taken a look at my 2014 Goals List, you'll know that getting more tattoos is something I really want to do this year.  I haven't had one in a couple of years and it's been driving me crazy!  My biggest excuse for not having gotten any more is that I never set money aside for it!  Soooo the other day I made this simple little "tattoo fund" jar:

My plan is that each month I will add $20, $40, $60, and $80 at a time (depending on being able to spare it or not of course!).  By the end of the month, I should have $200!  I'm considering going in for something MAYBE every 6-8 weeks. Ok scratch that.  I need a new computer before I start splurging on tattoos...even though I've been aching for a new one for such a long time!  After I get my new computer, I'll start saving towards tattoos :)  Now I've just got to decide what I want to get done first!

I've been making more pocket mirrors (if you missed the ones I posted before you can see them here!).  All of the ones that I've come up with so far are movie/TV quotes  as well as movie stills.  I'm soooo tempted to open shop with those items, but at the same time I want to work on more illustrated pieces.  What do you think?  This is one of the ones I drew up as a tester:

Please forgive the pencil markings-this is DEFINITELY just a rough draft!  I still want to do movie quotes, but I also wanted to give you an idea of the direction I'd like to go in for the non-quote ones.  Here's a Big Lebowski quote mirror that I made this week:

In other news, my apartment lease is up March 31st!  I know I've got a couple of months to get everything packed and moved, but I'm already stressing!  I dont' know about you, but even the thought of unloading groceries makes me grumbly...packing up this apartment and moving everything out within the next two months is going to be a BUMMER!  The end result is going to be amazing though-I can not wait to get moved into an actual HOUSE with Matthew!  Wooohoooo!  Sprinkles and Brando will be super grateful too!  To get me started I printed a few super handy packing/moving lists  from the Martha Stewart website.  I'll be rounding up all of my packing supplies this weekend.  I think I'm going to do a bit of Spring Cleaning already and go through the entire apartment and get rid of what I don't want/need.

If you've ever played the moving game, I'm open to any advice or tips you can give me! 

2014: New Year-New Goals

• Open my Etsy shop.  This is something I've been wanting to do for a really long time, and for whatever reason (cough cough...procrastinator!), I just haven't done it yet.  For a few months I was totally committed to opening a cute soap shop, and I have more supplies for that than I know what to do with, but I've changed my mind and I will let you know more of my plans soon!  
• Move in with Matthew.  Two years ago, I left my little country life behind and moved to Fort Worth to be closer to my guy, Matthew.  We've been together for 5 years now and I'm so excited to get out of this little apartment and into that house with him and all of our little fur-balls!  The fact that my monthly bills will be cut in half is definitely a plus :)    
• Decorate my new craft room.  As part of moving into the house, I actually get to have my own craft room!  I think I'm more excited about this than anything else.  My apartment is so small and I have WAY too much stuff cluttering it up.  I have to re-arrange in order to do lots of the projects I want to do.  More space and freedom to paint and decorate with whatever I want.  I can't wait to post progress photos!
• Buy a new computer.  This little laptop has nearly reached it's end, and I'm more than excited about the prospect of replacing it with a desktop.
• Buy a new car.  I've got a down payment saved, my current car as a trade in, and I know exactly what I'm going to get.  I've gone back and forth on buying something used or new, and I've decided to go with a brand new Chevrolet Spark.  It's the perfect size for me and for a brand new car...the price is the jam!  My current car is paid for, but worrying how much longer it will be before it takes a dump on me in the middle of traffic is not something I want to continue fretting over.  I've looked over so many used vehicle listings and comparing the mileage, features, and price to a new Chevy Spark...it's just not that much more expensive and with the job I have...I can (for the first time in my life) afford to treat myself to something new.  So what the hell...why not!?  I'm going to go for it :)
• Cook and bake more.  If you were to ever live with me for just one month, you would never guess that I really love cooking and baking.  This all comes back to me being A) a procrastinator, and B) lazy.  I want to make a real effort this year to cook and bake regularly.
• Read 15 books.  I think I may be setting this number too low...I'm sure reaching 15 won't be an issue, but 15 sounds like a good number to me :)  I'm looking forward to lots of Stephen King, Classics, and Serial Killer books!
• Take day trips to visit neat places in Texas.  Not only am I a huge procrastinator, but so is Matthew.  We've talked about going to see so many things...and it never happens.  Seriously...we've talked about making a trip to Austin to see the Congress Avenue Bridge bats for the past 5 years and it still hasn't happened!  This year is going to be a great year for going on little trips.  No excuses!!!
• Get new tattoos!  I got my last tattoo about two years ago, and I have been itching for one ever since.  I always seem to spend my money elsewhere and haven't saved up for one.  I also have so many ideas floating around that I've been having a hard time picking one out!  I've got plans for my feet, a thigh piece, and two sleeves.  Later on I'd also like to get a chest piece and a cover up on my back.  This year is going to be a big year in tattoos for me...if I stick to this goal that is!  
• Learn Illustrator and Photoshop.  I am over the moon excited about the fact that Adobe has come out with Creative Cloud.  At 50 bucks a month I can finally afford to have Illustrator and Photoshop (among other things!), and I can't wait to start using them regularly!
• Learn to use my DSLR in Manual.  Since picking up my Canon PowerShot, my DSLR has sort of been placed on the back burner.  My point and shoot is just so much easier to carry around and takes up a lot less space.  I miss it though, and I really want to learn to shoot in Manual. 
• Eat better and drink more water.  This one fits in nicely with my goal of cooking more at home.  Just to give you an example of how terribly I've been eating lately, here's how my day went yesterday as far as meals go:  Breakfast-Fruit Loops, Lunch-Nothing (had to stay late at work-missed lunch), Dinner-Gummy Bears and Big Red.  How horrible is that?!  I seriously need to take better care of myself.  
• Go Hiking regularly.  Matthew and I used to go hiking every Sunday, but for some reason we stopped and just never went back.  We're turning into a pair of Gummy Bear eating, soda drinking, couch potatoes!  Nooooo!  It's about time we get our hike on again!
• Start a Macro Photography Insect collection!  I have all of the supplies to start an insect collection, and it's something I really want to do (and probably will this year), but I think it would be really neat to start doing insect photography and make a collection of macro photos!  What do you think, does that sound awesome or what?  

Any big plans for 2014?

P.S. My "About Me" page is finally updated!