Time for change

I've been thinking about this for a while now, mostly since the summer weekends were taking up so much of my spare time either working, camping, seeing friends or doing household maintenance. It's time to change up my blog and I want it to be about all of me and not just the books anymore. It's been a good run with being just a book blog, but I feel like I let myself focus on one thing and get distracted from all of the other amazing things I want to do.

For example: 

I bought a book about making your own household cleaners - mostly to save money. I read the entire book, made a list of the items I would need to get started and then never picked the book up again nor did I make any of the cleaners.

I guess this post is just me dishing about all of the things going on in my head.  I have a habit of getting all excited about doing a project and then I either A) never start it, B)  get it half started and take forever to finish it or C) gather everything I need to complete it and then forget it beacuse I've found something new to try. 

I am hoping to take the next little while to slow down on the bookish stuff and actually get some of my other projects completed. And in doing so, I figure by writing them down, perhaps it will make me more accountable. 

So I'll start with the few of the projects I want to accomplish and then break them down into more manageable mini projects. I think I will even link back to this post with updates and photos.

1) Finish redoing the office. This will be my little space to keep all of my books, crafts and the like in. Also for my to work on my blog and other projects. I need to keep my clutter in one space instead of junking up my night stand, foyer and living room.

• finish painting the walls
• steam clean the carpet
• more the furniture back in (gathering different furniture this time - wrought iron single bed, desk and chair, redone bookcase, etc)
• organize the room to work better in (blogging, crafting, reading)
• decorate (this will be the best part, figuring out all of the fun things to make this room mine)

2) Gardens. This year I started out taking care of them just fine and then I let it all go. I promise hubby that when we moved here that I would take care of the gardens because I loved gardening so much - oops.

• Weeds - pull them all and dig up the worst ones
• Prune back the shrubs and trees that need winterizing
• Get organized for spring - figure out the new plants that will need to go into the front, side and back gardens (some of the parts do not have the right plants ie. sun loving vs. shade)
• Pack up some of the garden decor (I store away some of my faves in the fall to keep them from being damaged in the winter)

3)  Meal Planning - this has been on my to do list for a very long time. We need variety and we need some order on making sure we cook at home as often as possible. This will help save money, feed us healthier meals and hopefully let us try new recipes.

• Sit down and bookmark some of the recipes I want to try
• Organize shopping lists to stock up on items for recipes and basics
• Take a calendar and actually write on the days what I'm planning on making for dinner. Hopefully this will save money and make it easier to enjoy a bigger variety of meals

4) Blogging

• Sit down with a planner and get organized (reviews, discussion posts, life posts, renos, etc)
• Set goals for each week, make to do lists so I can stay on top of things
• Keep book tours to a minimum (pick one tour company and stick with it)
• Set times for writing on the blog (limit hours spent online as it sucks away at my free time)

So here is to good intentions and finally getting stuff done. You'll see changes in content and probably the sidebars too. Wish me luck!