Journaling Update

I mentioned earlier this month that I was trying to join the one book July challenge. It has been mostly successful, save the week where I didn't even touch my journal. I've loved having lists and tasks and notes all together. 

But I also love to doodle and journal on a bigger page. My sermon journal is almost full and I have been eyeing some fun and inspiring pieces from illustratedfaith.com so I started looking around at ideas. Many people have a larger leather journal catch-all than I do, and while that would be a beautiful place to store devotional pieces and such, I am not really interested in buying something when I clearly have more than I need. So today I found my original bullet journal sitting on the shelf. It's full and currently not in rotation but I love the cover and a few of the layouts I did in particular. I pulled it out and compared it to my illustrated faith devo and realized that it would be the perfect size! But what to do with all the pages inside?

Well, they are mostly todo lists and task and things from the first half of the year that are no longer relevant, so I grabbed a pair of scissors, and with nothing to lose, I started cutting out the pages. I left my blog ideas, gratitude, books to read, water log, and exercise log pages because they seem inspiring to look back over. Most importantly though, I was left with a cute cover and space for new things!

I trimmed the top and bottom of the spine to be angled a bit and then added 3 rubber bands. From the inside of the book I can access the rubber bands and put insets and new little devotionals inside. 

I made a simple 4.25" x 8" blank book to use for my Overflow Encouragement devotional and got to decorating. I also spruced up the cover a bit. I had so much fun and am so eager to dive in! I'm going to keep this one by my bed so I can jot down gratitudes, encouragements, and use it for morning bible study.

Best of all, I used my stash, spent no money, and even got rid of some excess stuff!

If you haven't done so, check out illustratedfaith.com to get some inspiration :)

Bullet Journal - tracking

This week I'm trying something new. I love the look of habit trackers I've seen online, however I've never been able to follow through. I think I've uncovered two main reasons I struggled:

1. Most that I've tried are for a month at a time. I live more day to day, or week to week.

2. Their habits are often pre-established and I realize that I am in data collecting mode to help me determine what my goals need to be.

Using these insights, I decided to take one area that I want to figure out: water intake. I made a chart for just this week (Monday-Saturday) and a box for each glass of water I hope to drink each day. There is also room on the end of each row to make a note, should I somehow go beyond the 8 boxes.

Below the chart (not pictured above) I journaled. I wrote what I already know to be true (a glass in the AM and a glass in the PM just to get my vitamins down). I also know that during school I'm a bit more regular about water so summer always takes a bit of routine adjustment. I set what I think is a reasonable goal and then added how I'm hoping to figure out what my "normal" is and look for patterns or places to make adjustments. 

I plan to recap next week what I discovered and see if this helps me on my way to developing good habits while documenting my efforts and feeling accomplished, even if some boxes are left empty.

Do you track goals? What's your method?

scripture doodling

I'm prepping for bible study Tuesday and decided to write out some scriptures on the topic of kindness. A very uplifting activity indeed! Happy doodling!

Scripture Doodling

For National Handwriting day I chose the verse below and a new font to try. 

I've been writing out the full scripture passages on Sundays as part of my journaling and it's been really fun, though a bit do work as they are rather long :) 

I'm also working on some new blog content and hoping that this week will be a bit less busy so I can get a bit ahead.

Happy doodling!