Came to the realization that I started this blog to document,for myself, the process of forgiveness. If you know me you are aware of what transipred over the last year. February 2015 we took in a family member, who had been in a state of chaos and survival their whole life. We thought we could help but we're just inviting that chaos into our lives which resulted in a parting of ways on very negative terms. Both parties are left hurt, lawyer poor and wondering how things could have been different. The experience effected my whole family and left me in a state of depression, anger and self doubt.

Like my family member when faced with chaos I create more chaos without even trying.

Exercise, healthy eating, school, r+f, renovations and this blog are all reactions to my inner chaos. Planning is my way of finding balance, comfort and routine. They are all positive objectives as long as I maintain consistency. This morning I intended on a longer run but ran into a coyote (seriously) so cut it short and made a great omelet and lunch instead.

​One day at a time I will forgive them and more importantly myself.

What a lovely sun filled Easter weekend with four productive days planned!

Friday - homework and studying
Saturday - cleaning and perogy making
Sunday - meal prepping, blogging and homework
Monday - day trip to Athabasca for Easter lunch

It feels great to get things done. Especially house cleaning, good thing the house is on the market, showings force me to do a big clean at least once a week. We've cut back on our house cleaning service with the intention to eventually stop the service completely and keep up a steady regime of daily cleaning.

​Cleaning is a habit changer to say the least. When it comes to goals, I have so many but am spread so thin with a full time and part time job and going to school full time. Need to work on realistic goals on a weekly basis, breaking them down to lifesize pieces. Focus on changing one or two habits at a time instead of all at once. My boss always says if you are doing everything, you are doing nothing. Or some variation on that, you get the point. Give your goals the individual attention they truly need to be successful.

My WOW (Within-One-Week) Goals are:

1) Track one habit for two whole days, no cheating!
2) Study for one hour each day, I have a mid term on Friday
3) Submit an assignment
4) Wake up at 6:30 a.m. every day
5) Set my Big Business Launch date
6) Go for two walks

Not too unrealistic! Will be tracking my eating habits with the Biggest Loser Food Journal. Found out that I have two food journals never used but bought with great intentions, just collecting dust on my bookshelf! Starting with the Biggest Loser Food Journal, then will use the FitBook. Could use an app but writing it down brings a different sense of accomplishment than scanning a barcode. In addition, I set up my weight loss tracker. A list of the weights I will be until I reach my goal weight of 145lbs. If I lose a pound a week, I should reach my goal by June 2017. Another hopefully realistic goals. I even set up a few rewards for myself to keep me motivated. Keep the mantra: "a goal without a plan is just a wish" on your mind at all times. You will be 33% more likely to succeed with a plan written down and shared with others.

Just read an article on research conducted by Thomas C. Corley who identified 13 habits of successful people. The habits, and hopefully people, will be detailed in his book Change your Habits, Change your Life that you can get the paperback or kindle version on Amazon.

"There is a cause and effect associated with habits. Habits are the cause of wealth, poverty, happiness, sadness, stress, good relationships, bad relationships, good health and bad health." T. Corley

   The 13 Habits of Successful People:

1. They read consistently.
2. They exercise.
3. They hang out with other successful people.
4. They pursue their own goals.
5. They get up early.
6. They have multiple sources of income.
7. They find and check in with mentors.
8. They're positive.
9. They don't follow the heard.
10. They have good etiquette.
11. They help other people succeed.
12. They dedicate 15 to 30 minutes per day to just think.
13. They seek feedback.

Definitely have work to do! First of all, I'm a classic example of terrible etiquette. I forgot to send thank you notes after our wedding! It's been over a year now. I have no excuse other than my own laziness. Sorry to all my wedding guests! Not that anyone from my wedding will be reading this. The confession alone makes me feel better.

I'm looking forward to reading Mr. Crowley's book on my kindle and will report back on whether it is worth the $9.99. First order of business, taking 15 minutes to just think with my morning coffee before I head out to Athabasca to see my mom and most favourite Aunt and Uncle. Happy Easter Monday! Take time for you.

After some time of avoiding the whole mapping business (premise of this blog), it's best I get back to it. Hard to ignore textbook advice that setting specific, measurable, attainable, result-oriented and time-bounded (S.M.A.R.T.) goals is proven to work both corporately and personally.

Real Life Ex: In 1979, Harvard MBA students were surveyed on their goals after graduation. 84% had no goals, 13% had some goals and 3% had clear written goals. 10 years later, the 13% with goals earned twice as much as the 84% without goals. The 3% with written goals were earning 10 times as much as the rest of the class.

Lesson Learned: people who wrote down their goals, shared this information with someone and kept track of their progress are 33% more successful in accomplishing their goals. 

While working on Athabasca University homework I found a statement in one of my business textbooks that really resonated with me and proverbially kicked my butt back to goal setting, committing and executing. I want to be 33% more likely to be successful in achieve my goals, who doesn't?!

What about work? I'm lucky to do group and personal SMART goals with the support of a whole team! The organization I work for ties it all together - strategic plan, business plan and personal goal setting - which when sewn together goes to show how each one of us are working towards the same goal of providing excellent public services.  

What about Ralph? He and I plan together. We aren't always on the same page but are working towards that. We are almost two years into our marriage and planning for a lifetime. It was really intimidating at first. He is older and has much more experience planning for family, finances and future. Let's just say it is a learning experience for the both of us but completely worth it!

How do we plan? A giant roll of paper with our lifeline drawn on it. Learned this trick from a wonderful leadership coach (who's name escapes me at the moment - I'll be sure to update once I remember her name and contact her for permission). Together, we put our goals on one color of stickies, finances on another and try to match our goals to our resources along the timeline. The result, a 10,000 foot in the air plan of where we see ourselves in 5, 10, 20... years. The pic below is from last year so we are due for an update round.

For only 30 dollars, the Black NFC Google Cardboard Forever (TM) Virtual Reality (VR) headset will transport you anywhere you want to go, this world, another, even a different dimension! We just bought a pair on Amazon while on the waiting list for the much acclaimed Occulus Rift. VR is unlike anything you've ever experienced. It actually feels as though you are really there. Wherever there is. 

Last night, I walked the streets of Paris, took a ride on a roller coaster (got a bit queasy), and was a character from Insididous 3 (night terrors ensued). Incredible to think of how this technology could change our lives. Training and simulation applications alone will shorten the learning curve for so many.  In addition to the educational benefits, VR makes the impossible possible. My evening plans involve watching last night's Walking Dead and battling some virtual zombies myself. Another amazing benefit is tourism and accessibility. If this technology was available when my mosom (grandfather) was alive, he would have loved the experience. 

The cardboard headset is extremely easy to construct. Once complete it holds your iPhone or Samsung that you use to enter the virtual realm. There are a bunch of VR apps on iTunes for you to experience - we only tried a few but are stocking up. There are new VR apps posted every day. 

Here is a quick video of my husband trying out the new device. ​It's almost more entertaining to watch someone in VR land than being in it yourself. Enjoy!

In the afternoon, we went to the Edmonton Home & Garden Show to get ideas for flooring and bathrooms.

Renos
Our master bathroom ensuite is classic 1984. Grey ceramic features (bathtub, shower, sink and toilet) with chips.

Here is our upstairs bathrooms as it is today. In addition, you can see the carpet which is grey but in the lighting looks blush pink. I'm looking forward to using the master bedroom! Right now I use the bathroom on the far right because it has more storage space.

​Truthfully, I go back and forth between the two. At night, I start my evening with my R+F Reverse Cleansing Mask and pack up my regimens in a basket and walk over to the master bedroom. Then in the morning I use R+F Reverse Deep Exfoliating Wash in the shower in the master and finish up in the other bathroom. One day I won't have to cart around as though I live in Lister. One day I say!

We saw some wonderful ideas at the trade show. Here a few snaps:

Our next stop was Memory Express for a custom gaming computer. I didn't understand anything they said but Ralph was happy and I got a chance to listen to last Sunday's R+F team call while they discussed the size of video cards and gigabits. Computer engineer I am not.

Food

We love our trips to Edmonton, not only for the shopping, they have great dining options and live music. We made sure to frequent Blues on Whyte, Russian Tea Room (with a reading), Von's Steakhouse & Oyster Bar and Billiards Club (not our age demographic).

The fresh oysters were amazing at Von's! Highly recommend!

Wine & Beer Making
We make our own wine and beer so a trip south means a chance to see what's on sale at Winning Wines. We are trying out:

• ​Cru Select - Pinot Noir
• Orchard Breezin' - Blackberry Blast
• Paddock Wood - Czech Mate Pilsner

We got our feet wet with the kits from Save On Foods, which are good, but only have grape concentrate. We're ready for the grown up wine & beer kits with their quality ingredients (real grape juice).

AirBnB
We stayed at a little condo on 149th and Stony Plain Road. It was quiet and clean, lots of parking and had all the necessaries. Best part was the affordability, two nights totalled $132, which is a steal of a deal! Normally we would stay in a hotel that would have costed twice as much and wouldn't have had a kitchen. We are total converts, even became hosts ourselves!

Headed back north. We are ready for home to get started on our many projects. Happy first day of spring!

We want to go away this April but the Canadian dollar is still low and I'm making predictions (based on absolutely no knowledge of economics or world politics) that in 6 months the dollar and whole economy will bounce back. New plan! Instead of two small trips, what if we just take one big trip? My amazing cousin Sofie lives in Sweden and the last I saw her was in 2014. While I can spend an entire two weeks in Sweden (one day I'll live in Gamla Stan and exclusively eat ice cream in freshly baked waffle cones) my husband can't imagine going to Europe without a stop in Germany! Why not France too! We are wine lovers and hopefully the vineyards will still be doing tours well into the fall. Can't wait to start planning and researching the best spots in all three countries. 

Life mapping, with travel plans, is much more exciting!

Legacy, Long-Term & Short-Term Objectives

It is Saturday morning and I've got goals! I started with three questions:

1. What do I want people to remember me by?
2. What long term objectives will help me achieve my legacy?
3. What short term objectives will help me achieve my long term goals?

After that I just started to answers to each questions on my super happy neon note cards. Once I was done I took the time to reflect on the answers and realized that each answer could fit under four overarching priorities: family, marriage, wellbeing, and making a difference.

That's when the fun began. I've always loved cutting things out of magazines. I have an entire biology textbook from highschool that is filled from start to finish with collages. While drinking my morning tea (David's english breakfast ), ripping out any page that struck my fancy, I came across a recommendation for Rodan & Fields Acute Care! I'm an R+F consultant so it's especially great when you realize you represent a company that doesn't need to spend a dime on advertising because it's reputation precedes it. After my little R+F hoorah moment, I continued on decimating my stack of magazines. So now I have a stack of ripped up magazines cut up into little pieces. Thank goodness I live in Fort McMurray where stocking up at Ikea isn't a luxury it s necessity. I grabbed one of the many Ikea SAXNÄS frames (a steal at $5.99 CAD) and started to place the images that matched my goals on the big blank page (just flip the grey page in the frame around - perfect fit).  After about a million adjustments I started pasting the images and layering them on with a Scotch Adhesive Dot Roller (amazing invention with no mess). 

I'm thrilled with the result - a framed collage of my legacy goals - it is hanging up in my dressing room so I get to see it every day. I hope it serves not only as motivation for my legacy goals, but inspiration that I can overcome anything. The past year has involved some lifemageddon sized drama from outside sources.  As much as I want to plan every detail out of fear, it isn't the answer. Life happens.

We map so many things, from land use to organizational systems to brain function. Yet many of us have no idea how to map our own lives. I have spent the last two decades of my life making lists, setting goals but feeling lost at the precipice of major life decision making. The first decade I had trouble coloring in the lines nevermind mapping decisions. Industry relations corporations are now mapping future traditional land uses.  Planners are constantly designing the next steps, who will live where and what will they do, go, eat, shop, sleep. Using that process I'm going about the practice of mapping academia, family, work and the situational disasters in a visual representation. Three decades down, three decades to map.

Have you seen Adjustment Bureau?  Just like that but with more inflection points for the inevitable unknown but comfortable known.