In Progress: Bike Love Painting #1

Bike Love was installed last Wednesday. Below is the final progression of Painting #1. Last you saw it was back in November. It went from the worst to the best in my opinion.

 

 

Painting #1: DONE!

Day 12: Listen to the Voices in Your Head

31 Days of Adventure Day 12

Listen to the Voices in Your Head

"Listen to the voices in your head. We all have them (right? Or is it just me?). Throughout the day, they tell us what we should and shouldn't eat, who we should or shouldn't talk to, and what we should and shouldn't do with ourselves. We don't even notice them most of the time—we just carry out their orders. Today, stop and really LISTEN to those voices with intention—as if they're coming from a friend or family member." - daily email prompt 

The statements I found repeated in my head over & over were, "I don't have enough time." and "I have to finish this."

Really? What kind of forced schedule am I on? I'm a Mommy Freelancer. I make my own schedule. Whatever timeline I'm fighting I have made myself.

And that was it! I am constantly fighting myself.

Fighting for the perfect day. The perfect schedule. The perfect flow of events.

By 10 AM Snack Time I said to the voice, "I don't have to listen to you today! Today isn't going to be perfect!" And along came the best Tea Party Face Building Extravaganza Cadence & I have ever partook in.

My first face.

Cadence building her first face.

Enjoying some tea with her first face.

A piggy face by me.

Cadence's second face.

Cadence's "Mommy"

Mommy's "Cadence"

Cadence's "Daddy" Um. Ok.

Cadence giving "Daddy" a hug.

We spent an hour on Snack Time & nothing blew up. Actually the rest of the day went pretty dang awesome. Letting the day unfold naturally instead of inside my forced schedule was something I should really do more often. It's funny how it's taken 10 months of Mommy Freelancing to unlearn Corporate Land rules.

Day 11: Ideas

31 Days of Adventure Day 11

Ideas

"Friends and loved ones can add an element of spice to any adventure. Today, why not invite a friend to join you on a creative endeavor?" - daily email prompt 

I got this prompt at 5am. We can talk later why I was up that early checking my email. 

Anyhow, on Monday I received a quick turn around project from the Denver Transportation Club. It is a challenging project. A lot of copy. Not a lot of space. I like to call these kinds of projects fat guy in a little coat projects. Since I always appreciate help from others on a project I thought maybe others do too?

At 7AM, I headed over to facebook & along came the following:

1. Created an event on facebook for creatives in town.

2. Made Vegetable Soup. 3. Set Up for Idea Making

4. Kelli & I came up with ideas for projects we were struggling on.

Kelli helped me see my project in a new light & I was able to help her with illustrations for a children's book she is working on. It was a great creative & social time (which this Mommy Freelancer doesn't always get!). And you know what? I think I may even do it again.

PS. I did get two options out to the client late afternoon yesterday & just received an email that started with "Good Stuff." It's good to know I can still design as fast as cowboys can shoot guns in the wild west!

Day 10: Learn a New Word

31 Days of Adventure Day 10

Learn a New Word

"Learn a new word and incorporate it into a conversation with a loved one or colleague." -daily email prompt

kickshaw noun:
1. A fancy dish; delicacy.
2. A trinket. 

Read more about kickshaw here.

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Used in real life:

Jarrod enters into the house through the backdoor.

"Daddy we are not having kickshaw for dinner. We are having comfort food," said Cadence (with prompting from Mommy)

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Can you use kickshaw in your next round of Words with Friends?

Day 9: Connect the Old-Fashioned Way

31 Days of Adventure Day 9

Connect the Old-Fashioned Way

"Many of us have family and friends spread all over the globe. Emails, Facebook updates, texts and blog comments are all great ways to stay connected. But think about the joy that comes from a hand-addressed letter in the snail-mailbox. When's the last time you sent a handwritten letter just to say hi? Today, go analog and send a card (or letter) to someone far away." - daily email prompt

I believe if I just came out & told you who these two stamped envelopes went to it would defeat the purpose of yesterday's adventure. Let's just say I sent one to a great friend who's birthday is this weekend & Cadence sent her's to some boys in Savoy.

With that said, this adventure was mentally challenging for me. It made me second guess a decision I made in January. In 2011, I deleted meat from my diet & for 2012, I have ceased sending any birthday or anniversary cards to anyone except immediate family. Many of you have received Red Letter Day cards from us over the past 10ish years. I wasn't going to say anything & just see who noticed. But here I am telling the entire internet. 

Has anyone noticed?

Or do people enjoy having 300 posts on their facebook wall rather than real cards on their mantel?

Day 8: Expand Your Circle

Circle Expander: Bomb Pops

31 Days of Adventure Day 8
Expand Your Circle

"Have breakfast, lunch or dinner with someone you don't know well. Whether it's the colleague you've been meaning to get to know, or an acquaintance you made at a recent social event, take the opportunity to spend time with someone outside your normal circles." - daily email prompt

I read this email prompt on my three mile walk to church on Sunday morning. I thought to myself, "this should be easy. I'll find someone this morning who wants to have lunch or dinner with the amazing Scheunemanns."

As the morning went on my nerve was lost. I did engage in more conversations with different people than I normally do on a Sunday, so I thought "that should count. Right?"

I knew I really hadn't accomplished the day's adventure. I tried to think of someone to call or invite over. But (excuses, excuses) the day was quite full already. Jarrod was out running 17 miles for his upcoming marathon. And No Nap Nancy (aka Cadence Rose) & I were playing the Mommy-is-Trying-to-be-Productive vs Cadence-Wants-Mommy's-Attention game.

And then it happened. (Not So) Quiet Time ended. Cadence & I got her Fisher Price skates out of the closet for the first time this spring & headed down the sidewalk. Cadence needed to go down to our neighbor's Jim & Diane's house. And when a 3-year-old needs to do something you better follow.

We made it down to their house & what did we find? Jim & Diane PLUS their neighbor, (who we had never met) Leanne & her two kids sitting on their porch. The kids were eating bomb pops.

Cadence proceeded to be her cute self & finagle her very own bomb pop. PLUS time on Jim & Diane's porch where we chatted with two sets of neighbors we didn't "know well!"

We may not have had breakfast, lunch or dinner BUT we did have bomb pops. Pretty awesome.

Once again, point for the toddler for finding adventure without being told to look.

Day 7: Heighten Your Awareness

31 Days of Adventure Day 7
Heighten Your Awareness

"Focus on all your senses today. What does the air smell like? Can you pick out particular sounds in your environment? What car is rattling? Which one has the bass booming? What color is dominating your landscape today?

Bonus: Did you know balance is considered a sense too? Go ahead and see how long you can stand on one foot. Try a headstand. Or simply close your eyes and stand still." - daily email prompt

Onion Carrots & the Grapefruit Orange shown with a couple of the Adventurers.

We took a little walk down to the Art Theater in downtown Champaign to check out Bike Love in all it's glory yesterday.  (Post coming soon of the final awesomeness!) The bike loving Knutsons met us for lunch at West Side Park. Our sense of taste noticed the following odd but true findings:

"These carrots taste like onions."

"This orange tastes like a grapefruit."

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Cadence & I were walking next to a brick building. She decided it was fun to rub her shoulder on the building as we walked. My first instinct was to tell her to stop it since it was making her jacket dirty. But then I noticed her coat sleeve on the brick was making a fun noise, so I asked her, "Why are you doing that?"


"I like how it sounds"


"What does it sound like?"


"A whistle."


There you have it: the toddler notices fun findings with her senses without being prompted by a daily email.

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And finally, Jarrod & I did a one foot stand off yesterday:


Jarrod: 45 seconds
Jessie: 1 minutes 10 seconds


Yeah that's right, this pregnant girl with supposedly less balance rocked it.

How long can you stand on one foot?