How It's Going So Far....

So I am writing a book, and it is nothing like I thought it would be. But then again I am not super close to my deadline. I might be more frantic when it is the 11th hour :) I have tried to be as organized as possible. For someone like me who is not naturally an organized person, it has been hard to do.

I started out by making a list of all the projects and ideas that would be in the book. I created a page for each project and decided on a shopping list, a list of items I already had, and how each project would be styled. The planning and gathering supplies took almost a month. I was very detailed.

I have taken a wall in my office and moved everything. It is the wall that had the shoe bench and giant magnet board. It will serve as my backdrop for most of my shoots. I will paint it different colors based on what I am photographing.

I have been traveling a lot the past couple of months. I had 3 trips in 4 weeks. Being gone is not the best scenario for writing a book on a tight deadline, so I tried to be productive even when traveling. I took my notebook with all my book stuff in it, and I would writing while at the airport and on the plane. I got the intro and chapter one written on one trip alone!

To make the actual photoshoots go smoothly, I made my office shelves into my prop shelves. I had all my props in plastic totes and it was hard digging through them. I decided to take the decor from the shelves and put them in the totes since I won't need them as often throughout the process. The shelves are not as pretty as before but it is so much more functional for now :)

I have things on top of the computer hutch and under the desk as well.

My husband has heard a lot of "It's for the book." lately :)

 

If you remember when I announced that I was writing a book, the main concern I had was not spending enough time with my kids while trying to write it. I have made an extra effort to be present. We have made more than half a dozen trips up the canyon in the past month and a half. Not only is it great family time, but nature is where I get most of my inspiration from. It was like hitting the "refresh" button.

I am lucky to be so close to the mountains.

 

So that is where I am for now. I still have most of the projects to do and photograph but that is the easy and fun part for me. I just hope the sun cooperates. The last few days have been so DARK and gray.

In the next couple of weeks I am hoping to share the gallery wall in my family room, some other details of my new family room, an awesome project involving a chainsaw, a quick fall decorating idea, a painting project, a New York inspired project, and one of my favorite recipes. Stay tuned!