Happy New Years 2015

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Years and wishing you the best for 2015!

I had a hard time deciding what color to use on the graphic and decided to go with the Pantone Color of the year: Marsala.

I am going to follow the format from last year and do a 2014 Year in Review and then let everybody know my goals for 2015.

I had only completed one original painting this year...

I didn't get as far as I would have liked in my LifeBook lessons. I finished up to Week 7...

Also in the creative department I was able to complete a couple craft projects also.

Another thing I was able to do this year that I didn't have planned was I purchased a DSLR camera. So I have been playing with photography.

I had set my goal at 30 books to read for 2014 and did not meet my goal, but I read some fun books.

I was able to complete all my travel goals for the year. We went to the zoo for my birthday, I took the boyfriend to Medieval Times for his 40th birthday, I went to Nashville with my sister, and I went to St. Augustine with the boyfriend over the holidays. Also the boyfriend and I purchased into a timeshare program which will allow us to travel more.

We were able to complete a few things around the house that I had been wanting to get done. We re-screened the back porch, got rid of the jacuzzi, and built a deck. We also were able to paint the interior walls in the living room, dining room, and hallways.

Health wise, I kind of gave up on the whole running thing. We did join a gym back in June and have been doing good about going 3 times a week. I had gained 10 lbs at the beginning of the year and after joining the gym I was able to lose those 10 lbs.

I noticed towards the end of the year I was getting super frustrated and over thinking things with work and at home. After going on vacation I felt much better and I need to realize when I am getting frustrated that I just need to take some time off. I also need to work on not over-thinking and just letting things go. My mom is still in the nursing facility and I still try and go every other weekend to see her. This is another thing that seems to get me down and affects me.

Some of my favorite things from 2014...
Movie: Guardians of the Galaxy and Maleficent
Music: Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, and Lindsey Stirling
TV Show: Sons of Anarchy and The Walking Dead
Book: The Undead Pool - Kim Harrison
Colors for the year: Purple, Light Blue, and Lime Green

All together 2014 wasn't to bad...

Looking forward into 2015...

I chose a word for the year and it is Surrender. I need to just let go and take things as they come. One of the boyfriends favorite sayings is "Clean Cup, Move Down!" I think I am going to take this saying and use it as my motto for the year. Basically meaning to let it go and move on!

My Creative goals are to finish up the lessons for LifeBook from 2014 and to complete unfinished projects. I also want to continue working on photography as a hobby. One of my goals with photography is to go explore the area we live at least once a month and take photos.

My Health goals are to try to make it a habit to go to the gym 4 times a week. I also would like to lose another 10 lbs. I need to lose more than that but I have been trying to take it 10 lbs at a time. This helps me learn to maintain the weight I lose.

My Travel goals are to make it to New Orleans for my 40th birthday. There are a couple smaller trips in the works for the year but I do not know the details of these just yet.

My Home goals for the year is to get the Master Bathroom remodeled. This is a big one so I am not sure if we are going to be able to accomplish more than that this year.

My Personal goals for myself is to just watch my thinking, stop over analyzing and just enjoy the process/moment.

My Blogging goals are to make sure I post something once a week. I keep trying for more than that and then I get overwhelmed and just take a break from it. I think once a week is a good amount. It will be a mixture of my paintings, photography, graphics, and the monthly adventures. I think Tuesday night is a good time to do the posts so look for them then.

If you would like to follow me on Instagram my account is CreativelyTara. I like to share my work in progress pictures there and on Facebook at CreativelyTara also.

I have a little giveaway for everybody. I created a Goal Planner for 2015. I have purchased planners in the past, and they either don't have enough for goal planning, or there is just to much that they are to busy. I decided to create my own. Since this is my first year designing something like this, I thought I would offer a pdf of it for free so you can print it out yourself. The only thing I am going to ask is if you could provide some feedback so that I can make it better. All you have to do to receive the pdf is email me at tara.creativedesigns@gmail.com an I will email you back the pdf.

Wishing everybody the best for 2015!

December Adventures

The beginning of December always starts off with my Murphy Dog's Birthday! He turned 9 this year and still runs around like a crazy little dog.

I took some photos with my phone this month and didn't get around to posting them all to Instagram. I thought I would share a few of those.

The boyfriend got me flowers!

He also brewed his first batch of home brew. It tasted great!

We try to do the St. Lucie County Toy Run every year. We missed the past couple of years but we were able to make it this year.

Starting off I got a picture with the Grinch!

This is the line up of some of the bikes. There were plenty still coming in!

This thing was so weird looking. It is called the Slingshot by Polaris.

St. Lucie's finest escorting the line!

Taking off!!!

The power plant from across the river.

There were bikes already on the bridge!

The power plant from the other side.

Final destination the Police Athletic League.

The start of the pile of toys coming in. I went back to see if I could get a picture of the pile after they were done but they had started piling them up in the truck.

I love doing these toy runs. Seeing all the people get together for the kids is such a wonderful feeling. As we were driving by the houses and condos along the river and beaches, everybody came out waving at us.

For my company Christmas luncheon, we went to this really great restaurant and sat under this huge chandelier all decorated for Christmas.

For the Christmas holiday the boyfriend and I went to St. Augustine. I took a bunch of photos and will be sharing those as soon as I can.

I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday and look forward to a great new year!

Holiday Greetings!

Wishing everybody a wonderful holiday season!!!

Navy Seal Museum Adventures

A few months ago the boyfriend and I talked about trying to explore the area more. I have lived here since 2000 and really still do not know much about it. I am going to make it a point to try and go exploring at least once a month. This month we picked the Navy Seal Museum. I pass this museum on my way to work every day. Also it is right next to the beach we like to go to. After hearing in the news that they obtained a Black Hawk Helicopter we decided we wanted to go check it out. Here are some of the photos from that trip.

When you first go inside the building and go to the left there is a whole area of the history of the Navy Seals. There are lots of guns, uniforms, and old scuba gear. They were all behind glass and most of the photos had weird reflections in them.

I loved this little frogman statue!

This is a custom built motorcycle that was built by a SEAL Teammate as tribute to the SEALs who lost their lives as part of Operation REDWINGS in Afghanistan. This bike is beautifully built.

Here is the Black Hawk Helicopter that just arrived. This helicopter was involved in freeing hostages from Somali Pirates in 2012. This think is pretty massive.

Also on display is the lifeboat from the Maersk Alabama. This is the story that the movie Captain Phillips is based on. The movie was so intense, it was definitely eerie to see the actual lifeboat.

There were quite few different vehicles in this room.

Sometimes I really don't pay attention to what is right in front of me. I didn't notice the steel beam from The World Trade Center until I looked at the pictures. Reading up on the story, a small group of FDNY rode bicycles all the way from Ground Zero down to Florida to present this piece of the beam to the Navy Seal Museum.

Heading back outside of the museum, another new exhibit is the obstacle course.

This boat was huge. Inside it was showing a movie about the Navy SEALs. We didn't stay inside it to long because it was really hot in there.

The SEALs were also involved with helping astronauts out of the capsules, and then recovering the capsules themselves.

This is a Seawolf Helicopter that was used back in the Vietnam War.

Some of the WWII Era Beach Obstacles. There were more I just liked this picture best.

Here is the memorial dedicated to all the Navy SEALs and Frogmen who sacrificed for their country.

I have watched this museum grow in the past couple of years by passing by on my way to work in the mornings. It is a very interesting museum to check out, especially if you appreciate our military.