Well it’s been a few weeks since I posted an update to my list of “Things I want to Do” (parts 1 & 2). I haven’t forgotten about my list of goals, and I certainly haven’t been neglecting them. Here’s my brief point-by-point update on seven of my top current aspirations.

1) Grow Emmy Lu as a business… In case you missed the announcement, we launched our brand new invitation concept about a week ago. We are thrilled to offer DESIGNER+DIY Stationery, which will enable us to greatly expand our audience (look for the upcoming addition of Baby, Party & Personal Stationery lines). Woo hoo for moving forward on something we’ve been dreaming about for quite some time, which will hopefully be a huge success!

2) Begin writing a book… While the idea has been whirrling around in my head for quite some time, I had never put the pen to the paper until recently. BIG step forward! I actually wrote out most of the content for my book over the course of the past month of so. Now it’s time to type my manuscript and get busy with a million other self-publishing tasks. Goal–book published by next summer. Possible? I hope so!

3) Learn to live more simply… This is an ongoing goal, that I am pleased to say I have made great strides on this summer. One huge area that I have been focusing on is my eating habits. Learning to eat more organic, local and simple foods has helped me to be healthier and spend significantly less time and money on food (believe it or not!). I find that I buy much less, because I am very intentional in the ways that I eat. My fridge isn’t crammed full of stuff that I may or may not use, and that will probably end up going bad. It seems like a small step, but it’s been really great. Next up… trimming the amount of cosmetic/shower/bath products that hubby and I use!

4) Begin a backyard composting bin… I attended the class, read the book, and have a gameplan in place. However, at this point, I am postponing this goal until next spring. We have some big yard/landscaping projects we want to tackle before building and adding the composting system to our yard.

5) Plan a bigger/better vegetable garden for 2010… Again, this one is all planned and researched out, but in a holding pattern until next spring. I was thoroughly sold on the square foot gardening method and can’t wait to put it into practice next year.

6) Learn to preserve/can food… Most of my progress in this area has been in the planning-to-learn category. I picked up a few books and browsed through them, but quickly realized that this is one area I will learn best by doing. My husband’s Grandma is an expert canner (is that a word?), and I am planning on heading up north this fall to learn the tricks of the trade from her. Also, in the next couple weeks, I am hoping to attend a class at a local farm on preserving food, which covers everything from freezing to canning. In the meantime, I’ve been eating and sharing the overwhelming amount of veggies our garden is producing this year.

7) Begin exercising in the morning instead of the evening… Well, I can honestly say that this is one goal that I have not made an inch of progress on. Let me just say that two years ago I was training for a marathon, and routinely ran 10 miles before work. I loved rising at the crack of dawn and running in the early morning while the sun rose and the neighborhood woke up. These days, I go to work much, much earlier, and end up staying up much, much later (blogging and working of Emmy Lu tasks!), so my energy level just isn’t the same! I have set my alarm for obscene times over and over again, only to hit snooze for an hour (at least). It doesn’t help that the days are getting shorter and I do very poorly in the waking-up-while-it’s-still-dask-out division. Ok, were those a bunch of excuses?? I’m still trying to decide if this goal is worthy of pursuit or if I should scrap it and accept the fact that I’ve become an afternoon-exerciser. Thoughts?!?!