Life As We Know It

366 photos: day 23-29

 

Monday: Ignore the cute baby, it's supposed to be about the box! The new desk arrived! Woo hoo! Alan then kindly spent a couple of nights putting it together after the kids had gone to bed, and we moved the furniture around on Saturday. Pictures to come.

 

Tuesday: I got a phone call early Monday afternoon, asking me to pick up Aoife from school because she wasn't feeling very well. She was much better in the evening, but I kept her home another day to be on the safe side. She was quite happy to have a pyjama day and to curl up on the sofa with her dolls and a hot water bottle.

 

Wednesday: I started my catch-all journal and was sooo excited about it. I feel a bit silly for not having thought of this before because it suits me down to the ground.

 

Thursday: It was still all about the journals as I went trough and worked out how to best simplify them.

 

Friday: Again, ignore the cute baby, it's all about the hoover (although he sure likes to "help"). Friday was big clean up day around here since I didn't get much done during the week.

 

Saturday: And another willing helper. This time Aoife, helping her dad with the new floorboards for her future bedroom.

 

Sunday: I was back in the craft room clearing stuff away. Alan helped me move out the old desk and bring in the dressing table I am going to use as a sewing table once it's done up. There's still a lot to be done out there, but I am making progress.

(Btw, if you look on the work station on the right hand side, you can see the mixed media project I showed last week is making some progress too)

And that is the end of another week!

 

The Happiness Project {a review}

 

 

Source

 

Sitting on a city bus one day, Gretchen Rubin realizes she is not as happy as she could be, and that she is taking a lot of stuff for granted. Being a writer and researcher, she meticulously researches happiness and decides to try out her findings over the course of a year. So she divides them into 12 topics, and works on a new topic each month (while carrying over the stuff she has learned from previous months).

 

I really wanted to read this book. And I really wanted to like this book. I think most happy people share certain traits, so it sounded like a cool experiment. Can you become a happier person just by applying those same traits to your own life?

So far so good.

Buuuut...

I just couldn't get on with Gretchen's persona and writing style. She may lovely in real life, but my goodness, that sure isn't how she comes across in the book. Even though we seem to have a lot of interests in common, I felt no connection with her whatsoever. She just annoyed the heck out of me.

I persevered with the book till the end, hoping her conclusions at the end of the year would be worth it. They weren't. And the more I read, the more she grated on me.

That said, the author did produce one of my favourite quotes of the moment; "the days are long, but the years are short". For that I'm grateful!

I gave it two stars on goodreads.

 

simplifying journaling {an aha- moment}

 

 

If you've been around a while you know I love to clean and organize and that I have been on this major simplifying ride for the past few years.

So this morning I was thinking about how to simplify the craft room when I do it up. And that's when it hit me.

Zoom. Right between the eyes.

 

I need to simplify my journals!

 

Please tell me I'm not the only one who has tens (or more) half-filled journals lying around. There's the gratittude journal, the spirit journal, the big acrylics journal, the small acrylics journal, the quotes journal, the doodling journal, the water colour journal, the experimental journal, the gardening journal...

Don't get me wrong. I think it's good to have more than one journal on the go, you kind of need a back up to scrape excess paint into, right, but that many?!?! How many journals does one woman need?!?! (don't answer that!)

And I was going to add a smash book into the mix too.

No wonder I can't find anything in the craft room!

So to cut a long story short, I decided I'm going to try to simplify my journals.

Looking through all my visual journals I was kind of sad they were all split up. I like having things in chronological order (ish), and felt like I couldn't follow my own progression well enough. So I'm going to finish the ones I have one at a time before starting a new one, and try to get things into some semblance of order. It will be fun having a variety of styles in the same book.

I'm keeping the gratitude journal as is. I love that.

Inspired by this post by Mon, and this post by Jen, I'm going to amalgamate a lot of the other stuff into one journal, what I now call the catch-all journal. I'm letting go of the idea that written journaling has to be in a diary type format. So this is where I'll stick quotes, ideas, lists, ticket stubs, gardening ideas, etc.

Such a simple thought, yet It feels like a great weight has been lifted off my shoulders!

Ahhh!

 

Reflections

 

 

Kirby 4 days old, January 2011

 

"Reflective thinking turns experience into insight"

John Maxwell

 

At 3 am the house is quiet. A sliver of light from another room gently guides me to his crib. I pick him up and his warm, sleepy body sinks into my arms, trusting that I will provide him with the comfort and nourishment he needs. I move to the rocking chair. Soon the rocking and his rhythmic sucks lull me into a calm, meditative state.

As I rock my darling baby, my heart full of love for this sweet little creature I have been entrusted with, my thoughts drift to the events of the previous day.

I welcome this. It is not a distraction. It doesn't take away from the enjoyment of the moment, but adds to it. I'm glad of the chance to reflect on my day and learn from it with a few hours of precious sleep in between to clear my head. As a mother of two, I take quiet moments to reflect wherever I can find them.

 

It's a matter of perspective. Middle of the night feeds can be a drag, or an opportunity. I choose to look at them as an opportunity.

 

An opportunity to pray, think things through, and get in tune with my innermost wishes. But most of all, an opportunity to hold and love that precious bundle of mine.

Gretchen Rubin says "the days are long, but the years are short". Well ain't that the truth!

Exhausting as it was at times, I look back with wonder and gratitude on all the nights we spent together. They were a gift. I will always look back on them with fondness.

Thank you Kirby!

 

366 photos: day 16-22

 

I'm so happy I finally got time to sort this corner of the kitchen. Here I keep all the things I want easy access to, like phone and camera chargers, school paperwork, the kids' medical books, menu plans, blank note-cards, stamps and the like, not to mention my handbag/ changing bag. The Alice bands are there for when Aoife paints in the kitchen.

 

I started a new mixed media project. I'm hoping to have it up on the blog pretty soon.

 

I sorted bags for the attic and charity shop (thrift store) pretty much all day. On top of my usual January clear out, I'm also starting to clear the wardrobes in the second bedroom in preparation for the reno.

 

Splashy splashy. We left home a few minutes earlier that morning so that Aoife could splash in every single puddle on her way to school. It was so much fun!

 

Like I said, I now come to you from an old dressing table under the stairs. The new desk is due today, so I wanted to remember what this corner was like for a short while. When the desk is in I'll hang a shelf above it too to make the most of the space. The fuddy duddy wallpaper (so not my style or colour choice) will stay until we can redo downstairs because it runs all the way up the stairs and onto the landing too.

 

Aoife knocked a couple of teeth loose over Christmas playing her new trumpet. She lost the first one on the school playground a couple of weeks ago. She lost the second one during lunch on Saturday.

 

Major clear out and clean up of the craft room in progress so I can start doing it up soon. It's got to look worse before it looks better, right?

Wow, this year is flying by!

 

Senses shared

 

 

Read: "Natural Health & Weight Loss" by Barry Groves. The facts I kind of knew already, but loved his common sense approach to low-carbing.

Hear: The kids howling with laughter as they play together more and more

See: Mad Men- we're finally catching up with the rest of the world and watching the first series of this brilliant show!

Smell: Damp clothes

Taste: Hot chocolate- one lovely indulgent mug on a cold, frosty morning. Yeah baby, come to mama!

Think: I have everything I need. Everything else is just icing on the cake. (such a freeing thought)

Feel: Grateful

 

Senses shared with Mon at Bohemian Twilight

 

 

Have a good weekend people!

 

Creative dreams: 2012

 

Mixed media project in progress

 

I'm still catching up on what I'd like to do this year. Today a quick one on where I'd like to go creatively .

 

:: I would like to start blogging five days a week.

As much as I wanted to, it just wasn't possible to post daily before. Now I think it may be. It certainly feels right. I'd also like to update the design and layout a bit, maybe get customised buttons, that sort of thing.

 

:: I would like to improve my photography.

At the moment I feel like my photos are a bit hit and miss. I'm still learning my camera, and my lenses, but I love photography and would really like to improve my skills. I'm hoping to take a class or two to help me along.

I would also like to turn my 366 photos into a photo book at the end of the year.

 

:: I would like to do more visual journaling

I'm itching to get back into art jounaling again now things are starting to calm back down after all the birthdays and Christmas. I left a couple of unfinished pages that are desperate for attention, and have a many new ideas too. I can't wait to be covered in paint again.

I would also really like to do something like a smash journal with the mementos I have saved over the years. They used to go in my diary, but I no longer keep one and I since I didn't know what to do with them, they were dumped in a box for me to deal with later. I have been pouring over smash book videos on youtube lately and really like that as a way to store them.

 

:: I would like to finish our cross-stitch stockings.

I now have 4 stocking in various stages of completion. I would really like to finish them this year, even if it means working on them all year. I would like them all hanging on the mantelpiece come December.

 

Anything else is a bonus!

What are your creative dreams this year?

 

Home improvements: 2012

 

The third bedroom (Aoife's room) back in 2009.

 

After hardly doing a thing to the poor house last year (new baby, illness, having to get a new car, a change of career for Alan...so many excuses reasons), I am itching to get my hands dirty this year. And as luck would have it, we do have a few projects planned.

We have already gotten off to a good start.

We moved the PC in from the office/ craft room just before Christmas, so I now come to you from under the stairs! I am totally giddy about that one! It's such a big deal. We've ordered a desk, should be here any day now, but for now I'm using an old dressing table from our first home (that I'm going to paint and turn into a sewing table for the craft room when I'm done using it here). I also want to add a shelf over the desk.

Our friendly electrician has also been here doing a few much needed jobs. So far he has changed the light fitting out front, replaced the two lights at the back of the house, changed the PIR (movement sensor) on the garage (all of which were broken), and, best of all, changed the horrid flourescent striplights in the craft room to pendants. So, so excited about that last one! I keep going out there just to look at the bare bulbs hanging down. I'm easily pleased, I tell you! 

Next up is a bit of a room swap. Aoife is moving into the second bedroom (currently Kirby's room), and Kirby is moving into the third bedroom (currently Aoife's room). We did up the third bedroom before Aoife was born so that only needs a bit of light work (filling, painting, and a few new bits), but the second bedroom is a complete redo. We need to:

 

:: get rid of a rickety old sliding wardrobe

:: strip wood-chip wallpaper

:: pull up existing flooring (laminate and carpet) and put in real oak flooring.

:: skim walls and plaster board the ceiling.

:: add/ move electrical sockets

:: add a tv point

:: move radiator from chimney to under the window (will need to replace because existing one won't fit)

:: paint walls and ceiling, including making a chalkboard on the chimney

:: get a few new bits, including new blinds.

 

I've caught the Expedit bug that's going around, so Aoife will be getting one for her room. I'm thinking of getting one for the craft room too, which is another project I've got planned for this year. That needs a lick of paint, new flooring and a whole lot of TLC.

Other than that I'm hoping to just freshen up a bit here and there; repaint the enclosed porch because it's starting to look a bit scuffed again, change the seat pads on our dining chairs, make new curtains for a few rooms...

 I can't wait to crack on!!!

366 photos: day 9-15

 

Playing with plans, trying to work out the layout of Aoife's new room so I can make good decisions about electrical sockets, etc. When I'm happy with the result, I tape the furniture down (although it's no guarantee it will stay that way).

 

The very happy birthday boy.

 

When I downloaded the pictures of Kirby opening his presents the day before, I noticed how dirty the fireplace surround was. Out came the cleaning supplies. Ahh, that's better!

 

After thinking about it for a while, I decided to give up tea...again. Hot water (my preferred alternative) is yummy too.

 

I had prepared for head-aches while I detoxed, instead I got a bug! Not nice! I was feeling a tad sorry for myself and was in total self-preservation mode until Alan came home (early) to look after the kids, then slept all afternoon.

 

What's in there then, mum?

I still felt yucky, but surfaced for a couple of hours to look after Kirby and do a couple of loads of washing while Alan took Aoife to her swimming lesson. Then promptly went back to bed again.

 

Kirby's first taste of cow's milk. Aoife was so excited and wanted to help. We're introducing it quite slowly, but so far so good.

 And that's the scond week of January gone! Quick or what?!

 

Fotoshop by adobe'

 

I'm down with a sickness bug and in no mood to write, but thought I'd share this instead. Have a good laugh, then share with your daughters!

 

Fotoshop by Adobé from Jesse Rosten on Vimeo.

 

Have a good weekend! See you bright and early Monday with the next 366 installment.