Category: about me

This year I decided to finally update my scrapbook. I hadn’t done anything with it since May 2013. Needless to say I had a LOT of photos to order, sort and document.

It took me almost the whole of a weekend to get things organised and sorted but it was well worth it. I really enjoyed the whole process of looking through memories and making sure they last by sticking them in my scrapbook.

I found it very relaxing to plod my way through holidays, christenings, weddings, birthdays and days out. The whole thing definitely made me incredibly grateful to have the people in my life that I do.

Now I’m looking forward to making new memories to scrapbook (here’s hoping I manage to keep a bit more up to date with them this year!)

Last year I decided that I would hand make some of the Christmas gifts that we gave to our friends and family. I’ve saved posting about them until now because I didn’t want to spoil any surprises pre-December 25th!

For 5 of my friends I made reusable tote bags. I sewed them in contrasting fabrics and made them fully lined. I was pretty proud of myself for this! I filled them with a couple of little personalised gifts for each lady and added a little tag asking them to reuse the bag in future (doing my little bit to help the environment!) Here they are:

For another friend I knitted a toasty winter headband to keep her warm on her commute to work each day. I was almost tempted to keep this, I love the colour of the wool so much!

I hope that they all liked their presents. I certainly enjoyed making them, and intend to keep on making gifts for people this year. I’ve already got some Mother’s Day ideas in mind for mine and Jonny’s mums!

Being a lover of Pinterest (follow my boards here) I really like the inspiring quotes and phrases that fill it’s walls. It’s these inspirational posters that led me to thinking of what I would want my focus of 2015 to be in one word.

This was a harder process than I initially anticipated. Looking through my resolutions I contemplated ‘create’ ‘positivity’ and MANY others before finally settling upon ‘breathe.’

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I choose breathe because it’s something that links nicely into Mindfulness. Concentrating upon the rhythm of my breathing when I’m starting to feel overwhelmed, stressed and my mind is generally whirring helps bring a level of calmness and focus back to my day. 

Starting a new job (tomorrow – eek!) and beginning to plan a wedding mean that this focus will be more than welcome. Especially when I’ve had a day that didn’t quite go to plan or I’m struggling to identify the good things in my life.

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I like the simplicity of the word breathe. I like that it’s something we can all focus on, and relate to. I like the sound of it when I say it.

So here’s to 2015 being the year that I slow things down a little to breathe, find direction and have a great time!

What word would you choose to summarise 2015?

After looking back on my progress from last year, here are my 2015 New Year’s resolutions:

1: Run 10km/Get fit!

This is something I DEFINITELY must do this year after last year’s fail on the fitness front. It’d be nice to have better stamina, and generally feel better about myself.

2: Take more photos

I love photography. This year I plan to take more photos both with my digital and toy cameras. I just need to make sure I never leave the house without some form of camera now!

3: Knit/Sew/Make more

Fairly straight-forward. I love being creative, it makes me happy and provides a great sense of achievement. It’d be silly not to make more this year!

4: Stay positive/Practise mindfulness

I really improved on this throughout 2014. Here’s hoping that I can make 2015 the year I crack being the Queen of Positivity (or something like that!)

5: Replenish savings

I spent 4 months of 2014 unemployed and lived out of my savings. This year I’d like to replenish the stocks that got eaten into whilst I had my career crisis!

6: Less screen time!

This is something VERY needed. I find myself all too easily drawn into checking Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the rest when I’m bored. I need to start spending my time more productively, maybe by starting a social networking ban before/after a certain time each day?

7: Buy less!

I am the worst for impulse buying. Easily led by something sparkly or a book that has an exciting cover; I need to reign in the random purchasing. Towards the end of last year I kept a spending diary to try and monitor my spending whilst unemployed and the silly unnecessary purchases are what ate up my savings the most. This year I hope to put an end to that!

Keep your fingers crossed for me!

What resolutions have you made for 2015?