Happy New Year to all!

Looking forward to setting goals and accomplishing some great things in 2017!

After much reflection, I have finally decided on my word of the year:

Transform 

Looking forward to setting some goals over the next few days, using this word as my focus. There is much I would like to "transform" in my personal and professional life. Ultimately, I would like to enjoy myself more this next year. I am very excited to use my new bullet journal to set up ways to track my goals and focus on transforming many areas of my life. And, I am very excited to share my progress with all of you!

After trying out the whole "bullet journal" thing with a temporary, inexpensive notebook, I found I really enjoyed the process and felt like the format really worked for me. So, I broke down and ordered the highly recommended Leuchtturm Medium Hardcover Dots Azure notebook from Amazon. I was so excited that I would be receiving my new notebook on December 31st - just in time to start the new year!

When I received the email notifying me that my notebook had been delivered to my mailbox and was just waiting for me to dive in, I could hardly contain myself. I tore the package open, removed the plastic wrapping, opened my new, beautiful notebook and my heart sank. I had ordered the blank page notebook instead of the dot grid version. I may have said some unpleasant things. Thankfully Amazon has an easy return process. I logged on, scheduled the return, printed my label, repackaged my beautiful journal and dropped it back in the UPS box. My new/correct journal will be delivered in a couple of days. Lesson learned.

Until I receive the new Leuchtturm Medium Hardcover Dots Azure, I plan to browse through my "bullet journal" Pinterest board and make plans for how to lay things out. You can follow my Pinterest board here: J9billings/Bullet Journal Board. I have learned a lot from my bullet journaling over the last three months and really have a good plan for how to improve things as I move forward. I love the flexibility that the bullet journal provides. I can make it whatever I need it to be - and that seems to tame some of the chaos in my world!

One area of "transformation" that my husband and I decided to tackle before the year ended was to finally paint the woodwork and walls in our entryway. It has made an incredible difference in brightening up a dark, closed-in space. As with every project, I keep asking myself why we didn't do this a long time ago. We have now completely eliminated all of the ugly, brown woodwork from our downstairs and all of the rooms are now coordinated. The amazing thing is that by lightening the wood and the walls, we were able to keep our retro, herringbone tile floor - and it looks great! I will share the before and after pictures in my next post. Because - who doesn't love a good before and after!

Here's to less chaos in 2017!