Changing things up

With the new year coming up I have been thinking a lot lately about what is important to me, what I want to focus on next year and what I am going to let go of, moving forward.  

I want to focus more on my health and on my family.  I'd like to kick start the year with going back on Paleo, getting back to Zumba and taking up running again.  I used some of my Christmas money to buy running shoes today and I'm looking into a couple of organised runs in the new year.

Thinking about family, I want to spend more time with the kids and more time with Nico.  I'll be keeping up our two main documenting areas - Project Life and the one second a day videos.  Both have been really fun this year and are so nice to look back on.  We're also planning our first real family holiday in 2019 and I am so excited about it.

This year has been huge in terms of my career.  Things are still being worked out and finalised but I am making the hours fit better with family and I'm looking forward to just settling in more at my new school and finding my feet there.  After a turbulent year of change and uncertainty, I am finally where I have been fighting to get to for the past seven years and that feels great.

I'm still carrying on with my goals and with my crafting but in a bid to ease up on myself and reduce some of the stress and pressure I have felt this year, I am going to stop aiming to do my languages every day - I do that anyway through work and I'll still dip into it during my commute but it's off my to-do list.

Finally, I'm going to stop blogging every day.  I don't want to let go of this space completely, it has been an important way to keep up with friends and family over the last eight years and put my thoughts out there.  Lately it feels like I am writing for the sake of it and to be honest, I'm boring myself and getting stressed about it.  Going forward I will write when I have something to say and when I have the time to say it well.

Here's to a fabulous 2019!

December Goals Review

Here's how December went:

• Visit the Christmas market with family - done!
• Fondu night - no.
• Sort out the hobby room - done!
• Finish a crochet project - done!
• Make Christmas cards - done!

December Goals

Here's how I'd like to finish up the year:

• Visit the Christmas market with family.
• Fondu night.
• Sort out the hobby room.
• Finish a crochet project.
• Make Christmas cards.

November Goals Review

Well, November was a bit of a wash out:

• Family day out - nope.
• Celebrate Joshua's birthday - planned.
• Lantern festival - done!
• Lose weight - done! (Just.)
• Budget - nope.
• Complete a crochet project - nope. (I now have two on the go!)

November Goals

Here's what I'd like to achieve this month:

• Family day out
• Celebrate Joshua's birthday
• Lantern festival
• Lose weight
• Budget
• Complete a crochet project

October Goals Review

Here's how the month went for me:

• Fondu night - not yet.
• Family day trip - done!
• Lose weight - done!
• Fill the planter in the garden - done!
• Keep up the videos - done!
• Three craft projects - done!
• Fix up Isabella's wardrobes - done - just need organising!

October Goals

Here are my plans for the month:

• Fondu night
• Family day trip
• Lose weight
• Fill the planter in the garden
• Keep up the videos
• Three craft projects
• Fix up Isabella's wardrobes

September Goal Review

Here's how the month went:

• Plant some vegetables in the garden - not yet.
• Keep up the videos - done!
• Start my new job! - done!!!
• Lose weight - no, but I didn't gain either.
• Family day trip- done!
• Learn to play backgammon - done!

40 things - Fly a Kite

This weekend I took the kids out and we flew a kite. It was the perfect windy day for it and we had some good fun.

Apart from a vague recollection of having done this as a little kid, I had no idea of how to actually fly a kite.

We had bought one a few years ago and never used it. It was very easy to assemble and then I let Isabella run wild.

Joshua got to help me hold the handle for ten seconds and watch his sister, and was surprisingly happy with that.

We had a little mishap at the end when she let go and the kite got stuck in a tree but we managed to get it back down again - just have to untangle it for next time.

The funniest bit was Isabella asking me why she didn't fly even though she ran so fast, bless her.

Make it Monday - Autumn Bucket List

This weekend I picked up this freebie from Jenna at Cheerfully Given.  I loved the colours and this year, autumn really holds a lot of promise for me so I was excited to jump on this bandwagon.

The goals fit in with a lot of my plans for this season and I was excited to get the first item ticked off straight away - more on that this week.

September Goals

Here's what I hope to achieve this month:

• Plant some vegetables in the garden
• Keep up the videos
• Start my new job!
• Lose weight
• Family day trip
• Learn to play backgammon

August Goals Review

• Start my new job (and find a new routine) - no...
• Keep up with the videos - done!
• Get back to my lowest weight of the year - no...
• Day out with the kids - no...
• Get the garden in order!!! - in progress.
• Gonis Power Start. - no....

So it has been a struggle this month. Hold ups with my new job and in general have really set me back. Hopefully things will get back on track in September.

August Goals

Here's what I am aiming to achieve this month:

• Start my new job (and find a new routine)
• Keep up with the videos
• Get back to my lowest weight of the year
• Day out with the kids
• Get the garden in order!!!
• Gonis Power Start.

July Goals Review

Here's how this month has gone:

• 3 DIY projects - done!
• Get on top of the garden - nope.
• Catch up with the crochet - done!
• Keep up with the videos - missed one day...
• Get back on the Paleo track - done, except while on holiday.
• Three exercise sessions per week - on the way but the holiday corrupted me
• Enjoy some quality family time - done!

Not a bad month, and it has been crazy busy.  Looking forward to August.

July Goals

Here's what I would like to achieve in this holiday month:

• 3 DIY projects
• Get on top of the garden
• Catch up with the crochet
• Keep up with the videos
• Get back on the Paleo track
• Three exercise sessions per week
• Enjoy some quality family time

Make it Monday: Goals!

With such a busy end of the school year and the hen do at the weekend, my creativity has hit a bit of a hurdle.  I've still got so many ideas in my head but I'm lacking the time and energy to get started.  I'm amazed I have kept up my ongoing projects such as the daily video and weekly crochet and Porject Life.

Today, I thought I would share with you some of the projects I am planning on cracking on with in the holidays.  It's always therapeutic for me to get these things out of my head and into words.

1. Sewing - trousers and/or trouser jump suit from Tilly and the Buttons
2. Crochet - catch up on the blanket patches and get ahead on some hats for Autumn gifts.  I also have a ladybird kit to make.
3. Paper crafts - August cards, new Project Life album.
4. Photography - change out our wall photos, Joshua's Dr Seuss poster, update Isabella's photo wall, photo book gift, Isabella's birthday photos.
5. Gonis - I have a meeting on the 10th July to start working with Gonis.
6. DIY - I'd like to jazz up a few things around the house and garden but I'm still searching for my inspiration here.
7. Video - keep up the daily videos.  We made it six months and I LOVE this project.
8. Painting - I still need to finish my oil painting quartet and experiment more with glass painting.

Here's to a productive and creative month!!

June Goals Review

Here's how my month went:

• Finish, frame and hang my crossstitch - done!
• Keep up the videos - done!
• Celebrate Isabella's birthday - done (still tidying up)!
• Three exercise sessions per week - 3/4 weeks.
• Get caught up with my crochet projects - on track but not quite.
• Get on top of the garden - nope.
• 3 DIY projects - nope.

Took on a bit too much this month but with holidays in July I'll be looking to correct that!

Project Life Update

I've just officially finished my Project Life album.  It's been getting full for a while and I wanted it to cover eighteen months before I start a new one. 

I'm still really loving this project.  I'm only sorry that I took such a long break in between and didn't document Isabella's early days in the same way.  Who knows, maybe I will go back and cover that at some point.

This album runs from Joshua's early days in January 2017 until the end of this month and it makes me very emotional looking through it as it is such a good record of his development, and ours as a family.

Some weeks are more photo heavy and some are more writing heavy but that's just part of the flow.  Sometimes I have to remind myself to photograph more since I now video every day but I'm getting better at that balance. 

My process is weekly with this project.  I print out the photos, place them and work around that with cards, writing and the layout in general.  I try to keep it simple with the colours and not mix it up too much so that the photos really speak for themselves.

I've invested in a new album and will be starting that next week.  My aim with the next album is to focus on the embellishments a little bit more to give it a slightly more finished look.

I hope that we'll look back on these albums with the kids and maybe even their kids one day and remember how busy we were but also how much fun and love we have in our lives right now.

Crossstitch

 

One of my main craft goals this year was to finally complete this crossstitch which I had started before Joshua was born!

With daily sewing since 1st January, I finally finished it in June and framed and hung it this week.

I'm so happy with it. The colours are so bright and happy and the details are fantastic. It's the biggest crossstitch I've ever done and it will be the last one for a while but I really enjoyed it.

June Goals

Here are my goals for this month:

• Finish, frame and hang my crossstitch.
• Keep up the videos.
• Celebrate Isabella's birthday.
• Three exercise sessions per week.
• Get caught up with my crochet projects.
• Get on top of the garden.
• 3 DIY projects.