change :: March update

Douro river in Porto last October

March was as kind as I could have hoped for. Things went well. In the grand scheme of things, life is good and there's so much to appreciate and enjoy. Little things and big things.

I lost sight of my running goals for March. Real life, that mild nuisance got in the way and running was paused for two weeks. I'm ok with it which is the best part. I've accepted that some things are how they are and that's that, moving on.

I was positive. I embraced most colours (sorry pink, you weren't included this time around). I finished the design of a new creation, just. And then I did a bunch of other things that weren't goals but made March fulfilling. I photographed more and more and I picked up my big camera again. I worked on my project life pages. I wrote here, more and more. 

March was also about hoping for what's around the river bend, even when you can't see past it. 

Friday on a Wednesday



What a great invention!

I am staring in awe at a long weekend of spa treatments and sewing and running and eating yummy things and film watching and a bit more sewing with a little bit of knitting. The best bit is that these are all indoor activities so the cold will hardly affect me except in that nice way of looking out of your window from under a blanket holding a cup of hot chamomile tea. What a lovely thought that is!

I'm excited to start the weekend with some writing for the blog and roasted veggies and steak for dinner. It's a good combination which is working for me. Random, but oh so good.

::inspiring Mondays::


I woke up restored. Ready for the new week, grabbing my "be positive" goal for March and hugging it even before I left bed. Yes, it's cold outside and my face will be wind slapped several times when I leave the house, but right now it feels amazing under this duvet and I'm rested (what a feeling!) and ready for a short week. 

:: the digital world which allowed Dad to email me photos of Mum 
:: sleeping.
:: morning walks!
:: oven roasted sea bream. simple and yummy.
:: knitting. I love it more and more.
:: my hot water bottle. so comfy!
:: a Spa day to look forward to. oh yeah!

How was your Monday? Did you sleep all you wanted this weekend? Wishing you a lovely week...



notes on a Sunday



Warning: This is a random post written on a day of randomness.

There isn't anything quite like sleeping in a freshly made bed, especially with egyptian cotton bedlinen. It's the perfect rest and rested is what I feel. A sleepy rested, if that makes sense at all.

I wanted to sew today. I ironed the fabrics and then didn't feel brave enough to cut them. It will have to be done another day. I'm ok with that. I like to listen to myself every once in a while and do as I tell myself to do. 

I knitted. I'm one third through a very colourful second sock. Maybe I am over the second sock syndrome after all. I watched Lewis while knitting. Such a wonderful combination.

I photographed. Little snippets of life. 

I made bread. I put a bit too much water in and decided to let go of perfection and just see what happened. I had a slice or two straight out of the oven, with butter. Delicious. Perfection must be overrated!

I like to go through my photos for Project Life on quiet Sundays. After this post, my style seems to have changed dramatically. I still love what I've done so far, but I'm thinking of doing it differently from now on. What are the odds that it takes me such a long while to write about it and when I do, I'm ready to change it immediately? Oh well, change is the name of the game this year. 

Perspective is a great thing. As I sit writing this on a cold Sunday in my pjs, Dad is working out how to email me some photos. They're all of my Mother. Just my Mother. She's smiling. She looks beautiful. Dad's emails are usually followed up by a phone call. It's sweet. And then my throat goes into a bit of a knot and I thank him for the photos, it's so good to have them. He tells me of lazy Sundays and we hang up. I'm left staring at this photo of my Mother, smiling, beautiful.

project life :: title page


I love Project Life.

I love writing. I love photography. And I love documenting life. It made sense I combined all of this into a project - Project Life. 

For the last few weeks, I have been selecting photos which best tell the story of my week, printing them, arranging them in the pockets and writing my thoughts about what's been happening. I'm loving it! And what a great feeling it is to look back through the weeks and see it all there. Amazing! My favourite spreads so far are Mum and Dad's birthdays, in February and January.

I'm still trying to work out my system for doing this. So far, it's free style; whenever whatever & smile! I've spent far too much time on pinterest soaking up inspiration, I've drooled over a number of supplies until I settled for a number of absolute favourites, and then I found my style. It's mine and it works for me. It's simple and it works for me. I love it and it works for me.

I have been hummimg and hawing about sharing my project life pages here. Ultimately, project life is a personal thing which has photos of my family and friends, as well as random thoughts on my days and how I feel about things that happen to me. Do I want to show all of that? In addition, sharing the weekly spreads involves completing them to a time frame and photographing them as well (which kinda equals pressure!). As much as I love reading about it on other blogs, I'm still not sure of an approach which would work for me. 

While I decide on that, I'm sharing my album title page. It's a work in progress and I plan to change the top left yellow card with my favourite photo of myself taken by June this year. I will then place a flair button with my one little word for 2013, change on top of that photo (from here). Can't wait! The main photo is Porto this January. True love! True blue skies!

Do you do any documenting of any sort? Would you like to read more about what I do and how I do it? Let me know :)

*********

Project Life is a product and documenting system created by Becky Higgins which is designed to make memory-keeping effortless and simple.

Supplies for the title page: Seafoam core kit, design A page protectors, Project life binder Cherry, corner punch. I print my photos at home, on a Canon Pixma iP4950 using original Canon ink. I use gloss photo paper of different brands but always heavy (at the moment I'm using HP 250g); I prefer gloss paper as the colours are much more vibrant. Ormolu's flair button.

Google Reader bye bye


I'm a Google loyalist. I like google's products and I use them. I *love* Gmail the most followed by the search engine and, of course, Blogger. Then comes (came) Reader. I like Drive too. And Google+, if only more people took that up I could just move fully from Facebook.

I nearly fell off my chair when I opened Reader to read Google is ending it. It makes no sense to me. Reader is brilliant, functional, pleasing on the eye and ever so simple. Oh how I love simple!

Since 2005, Reader has allowed me to read my favourite blogs in a really efficient and enjoyable way. From now, I will have to change (and here is this word again!) how I approach reading those.

Dear Google, I may not forgive you for this one. Really!

Do you use an RSS feeder to read blogs? Or do you go directly to the ones you want to read? Any tips on alternatives to Reader?

I will be testing available options to replace Reader in my life. I'll be posting about it possibly next week, if you're interested.

**Added later: Picasa, I definitely love Picasa!

::inspiring Mondays::


I am happy. Exhausted but happy. I have worked at the Big Bang Fair in London from Thursday to Sunday, everyday, all day. My legs hurt, my feet need massaging, my back asks for a rest and my brain is slightly slower than usual, but... I'm happy. I have met the generation of the future and you know what? We'll be in excellent hands.

Over the past four days I have talked to teenagers thinking about their future and possible career paths, to parents who were dragged around the fair by excited children, to teachers who care about their inspirational role, to anyone and everyone who wanted to know about the amazing work being done at my workplace or who wanted to share bits of their day with me. I was reminded every single day of how brilliant and lovely the people I work with are and of how lucky I am to know them. There were simple moments when I blocked out the chaotic sound of the crowds having fun and had a silent look around... I loved it.

:: enjoying what I do and the people I work with.
:: having good people visit our stall. ever so lucky!
:: inspiring hotel views.
:: morning sunshine.
:: hot showers!
:: sushi and white wine.
:: morning walks.

How has your Monday been? I hope as inspired as mine, but with less lack of sleep and hopefully warmer. Spring is almost here...!

running cure


I had a tiring and seemingly long day. I needed a run. From 2pm this afternoon all I could think about was the run I would get to run when I got home. And it didn't disappoint. I ran faster than normal and it was ok. I cleared my head and thought of very little. I felt the cold and it was good. I let myself go and it worked for me.

*I was so keen to get started that I didn't take a picture before starting to make the most of the daylight. in the dark under a street lamp it is then!


::inspiring Mondays::


It's March and Oxford is freezing. We were teased with a glimpse of the spring to come, only to have it removed from us and be left to deal with sub-zero temperatures and cruel winds. I needed hot coffee this morning to defrost my facial expression from within.

There is one good thing about the lingering cold - lazy days underneath the duvet. Oh yes! With a hot water bottle, tea and a good film. Oh winter, sometimes I can almost forgive your delayed departure.

:: Mum and Dad. 
:: a Little Brother who has the patience to help me choose the perfect yarn colour for my next project. to the most subtle shades. several times just to be absolutely sure.
:: working on my Project Life album. it's magic seeing the pages come together with all the photos and journaling. 
:: Friday night cocktails. It had been too long!
:: Saturday night partying. I had a great time!
:: choosing my next knitting project.
:: a new knitting shop in Oxford. with a table. and coffee.
:: enjoying this space more and more.

If you're in the UK, I hope you survived the cold. If you're elsewhere in the world, I hope your Monday was warmer than mine. For all of you, I wish you a lovely start to the week... can you believe it's almost mid March?


LMJ on Facebook


Little Miss Joey is on Facebook. I have been there for a while, but I wasn't really there. Now I am. I'm enjoying writing about the small daily things that would never amount to a post. I'm enjoying managing the page from my phone, which is what makes it possible for LMJ to really be on Facebook. I'm enjoying the thought of welcoming you all there too :) Join me, if you'd like! 

a British education

Costa Coffee at Gatwick Airport

Oh.my.god. Am I one of them?
This is the question I've been asking myself since I had a heart warm moment on seeing Costa Coffee at Porto Airport.

I am a fan of Costa's. I am. And the only coffee parlours I like more than Costa Coffee are the independent ones. What I see as the proper cafés.

Cafés (and bakeries) are abundant in Portugal. You find one in every corner and much like the British pub, most people have a local café where everyone knows them and they know everyone. It's a good feeling! Coffee chains are only just appearing in Portugal and the majority of said cafés are independent (not a word we use in Portugal, as that's what's expected anyway!).

I'm a big fan of the Portuguese approach to cafés (and bakeries, let's not forget the bakeries) so it was a huge surprise to me to feel cosy at the sight of a Costa Coffee at the airport. I'm now very concerned about my Britishness levels!

Running three times a week :: final thoughts



I loved it!

Running three times a week in February has been just great! I love running and the more I do it the more I love it! In fact, I love it so much I'm keeping it as a goal for March. Yep!

Unfortunately, the love of something is not always enough to make us do it so I wrote a little list of "notes to self" for future reference.

:: once you set your goal, tell the world about it. Everyone you know. Make yourself accountable for it. That will keep you going when all else fails.
:: don't pressure yourself. Just go out and do it. For the first few times, anything you achieve is a bonus.
:: by the end of week 2, I set myself small goals for my time. I didn't mind at all with distance covered, I just wanted to run for a longer period and increased it gently.
:: by the end of week 3, things became so much easier! I could run for 30 minutes without feeling I had a panda sitting on my chest.
:: the feeling after every single run is AMAZING!
:: looking at the mosaic above makes me want to do it all over again. Love!


In case you're wondering, I am not a runner. I am a person who goes out and runs. All my February runs were under 33 minutes covering 3.5 - 4.8 km per run. To me it's about doing it!

::inspiring Mondays::

Windows to the river Douro

I'm finding it hard to see how I could enjoy today, not because it's Monday but because after being home in Portugal for five days I miss it too much and I'm home-over. In case you are wondering, a home-over is very similar to a hangover but instead of a headache you have heartache.

To inspire myself I think about the last few days and go through my memories selecting only the heart warming moments. Today I shall not think about any not good news. In three minutes I'm filled with strength and happiness. Ta mucho for the exercise, inspiring Mondays!

:: my family. How good it is to be part of a unit.
:: my Father. For being the rock that he is for us all.
:: my Mother. For being there.
:: my Brother. For being the optimist which carries us all.
:: my extended family. So much more than backup.
:: my little 7 year old cousin giving me the tightest hugs ever. All the time.

Memories. When all else fails, we have memories. And that's how my blue day changed into an inspiring Monday.

Hope you're having a lovely start to the week, memory sponsored or otherwise.

March goals


Hello March, how are you? If you were to ask me how I am I'd probably say scared and determined. Scared for things unknown. Determined in staying strong and focused. Be kind, March, and be welcome.

In January I embraced change. In February I created change. In March, I want to learn to deal with change.

:: be positive
:: embrace my love of all colours (minus pink)
:: finish the design of a new creation
:: run at least three times a week (I had to include it!)

.......................................................................................................

You can read all my monthly goals posts here and my change :: one little word posts here.

change :: February update


It's a funny thing, change. The most important thing I've learnt about it is that you have to do what makes you happy, even if that means not changing or especially if that means not changing. And that is my change. 

When I saw 2013 as my year of change, I thought I would embrace all of it and see it as a great achievement of my goals whatever happened. I would feel happy and hopeful in what it would bring me. Then Mum was ill and I knew immediately I didn't want that change. That was not part of the plan. Of course that's an easy one, that's not even to be considered as a part of change. So I held firmly to my one little word and set my goals for February and hoped for the best.

When other things changed, I had to pause for a moment and look deeply into what was happening. How could this word be so powerful and out of control in my life? Did I want it after all? Did I not want it? What did I mean by it, really? And that's how I learned something new about myself, my outlook on life and life in general.

When I chose my one little word, I had dreams about all the things I wanted to change, from the little ones to the big elephant size ones. For most of them, I didn't have achievable goals or well thought out plans; they were a beautifully lit dream. And with this, I forgot three things: 1. to pin things down and plan it, 2. knowing when not to change is also change, otherwise known as growing up and learning, and 3. I'm not in control of all that will change and I don't have to like it all, my word implicitly means positive change.

Yes, it's a funny thing, change. Right now, I'd like most things to stay just the same! All I can hope for is that this change works out ok...!






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