One Little Word 2011/2012

Happy New Year too all my blogland friends! I hope that you all had a great Christmas and got everything you wanted. I was thoroughly spoiled this year and got quite a few gadgets to play with, including an iPod Shuffle and a new (to me) DSLR camera. Consequently, I've been taking a lot of photo's over the last week or so to convince myself that I *can* shoot on manual. I'm not sure if it's working at all, but I'm having fun!

Now, the New Year is here and it's time for many of us to make our New Year's resolutions. Well, I dispensed with those last year and decided to live my year by One Little Word instead. My chosen word for 2011 was 'Reclaim'. It was quite a difficult word to live by, but I think I managed it in a lot of ways... and failed dismally in others. So in 2011 my word was manifested in:

• the Kitchen: We reclaimed the room and some extra space by knocking down the boiler cupboard and integrating it into the kitchen and fitting new kitchen units, flooring etc. It looks lovely and I actually look forward to cooking now. Result!
• the Finances: We installed our new 'Cash only' system in the form of the Envelope system. So far this is working wonders! Ok, so we're not out of debt yet, but we have managed to get through some emergencies and Christmas without having to increase our overdraft. Result!
• the Nappies: Potty training Weeself was a mission and a half! However, after 3 months the message finally sank in and I was able to reclaim the 'nappy' bag for other use. Result!

So there were also some failures along the way. Firstly, my weightloss. Well, lets just say that it completely stopped. Thankfully, I managed to limit the damage and haven't actually piled any of the weight back on again. Secondly, I struggled with Depression during the summer.... not exactly 'reclaiming' the life I wanted to lead. Thirdly, we took a step backwards with regards to churches. The less said about that the better. However, other than that I think 2011 was a pretty good year over all!

This year I will be attempting to live by One Little Word again. I think it's a great alternative to making New Year's Resulotions which get broken before the end of January comes round. So my word for 2012 is: 'Persevere'.

I'm hoping that I can 'Persevere' this year in: 

• My weightloss
• Stampin' Up!
• Crafting
• PTA
• Finding a new church
• Loving my family
• Making a home
• My faith
• Fitness
• Blogging more regularly
• Learning to use my DSLR properly

There's a lot on my list but I don't think any of them are out of my reach. 

Do you make New Year's Resolutions or do you live by One Little Word? If you're a OLW person what is your word for 2012? 

See you soon!

Depression, Swimming and Eating a Frog

In January this year I chose the word 'Reclaim' as my One Little Word for 2011. I envisaged reclaiming my weight loss, my spiritual side, my house.... and I have done some of those things. However, the one thing that seems to have reclaimed me is Depression. I don't know why and I have been trying to fight it but it's been very hard going. Every time I felt like I was winning something would come along and knock me down. It's been a constant battle. However, the one thing I really didn't want to do was to go on medication. It may seem stupid but I have seen friends and family members taking their little 'happy pills' and they have worked. But I have also seen those same friends and family members trying to wean themselves off the pills only to go right back into depression again. It's not something I want. A lot of things have been affected by my state of mind. My weight loss, for one, has completely stopped. I have managed not to gain any so that's something to be grateful for, but I've hit a plateau. This plateau has lasted almost a whole year now and it's very frustrating! It was so frustrating that I stopped going to my Weight Watchers meeting for 3 weeks because I couldn't face the scales... and that didn't do my mental state any good either because I felt like I was quitting.

On Monday evenings I take Herself to her swimming lessons at the local community pool. As she's old enough to go in the pool on her own for the lesson I normally sit at the tables provided and do some reading or chatting etc. However, this past Monday I decided that I would go for a swim too. As the larger pool was available and there were some people doing lengths I decided to join in and do some too. I think I must have done about 20 in the half-hour I had available. It felt good! Little did I realise that the swimming instructor was watching me! The following day at Weeself's lesson she offered to devise a programme for me to improve my fitness, which I  gladly accepted. I LOVE swimming and would much prefer to be in the pool than the gym. I went along to the pool on Wednesday morning, child-free, and was handed a killer programme. 64 lengths!! A mile!! Never would I ever challenge myself to do that, but I got swimming and had finished all 64 lengths in an hour and a half. Wow. I shocked myself and, boy, did it feel good!!! I was buzzing for the rest of the day until the evening.

That evening I phoned my Stampin' Up! Upline, Julie, and she told me about Eating Frogs. Ewwww.  Ok, not that Ewww, as it turns out. Julie told me to identify the tasks that I least enjoy or have been procrastinating about the most. Turns out I have PLENTY of those!! Those are your frogs. They are not pleasant to eat, but once you have eaten it you are safe in the knowledge that nothing else is going to be that bad for the rest of the day. Julie said that I have to eat my frog first thing in the morning so that the rest of the day can go smoothly, because nothing else is going to be worse than eating that frog!  Thanks Julie for the pep talk, it was just what I needed to hear!! I identified that my first frog should be getting back to WW the next morning..... and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I hadn't gained any weight in the 3 weeks I'd been off. Despite shovelling in enough food to feed an entire army! (Somehow I think the swimming helped with that!)

So, I'm back. Yes, I'm still struggling with the Big D and that's mostly likely going to be a long term battle. But between swimming, to get the endorphins going and to boost the weight loss, and Eating my Frogs, to get past the things that are bogging me down, I feel like there is actually light at the end of this tunnel now. Maybe this year hasn't been a complete waste? Maybe I can 'reclaim' things that I thought were lost?? I don't know, but for now I shall go swimming again and eat another frog.

Thanks for reading all this way through! Leave me a comment please, I'd like to know how you eat your frogs!!

Mr Mojo and the Envelopes

Wow! Mr Mojo is well and truly back today. After doing my post yesterday I was itching to do something inky  but somehow I got sucked into online stuff and well, after that nothing happens. Then last night after the kids had gone to bed I ended up going out to visit a friend of mine and well, after that nothing happens! LOL. So this morning I packed Herself off to school on the bus and Weeself decided that she was happy playing on her own, so I decided to follow her example and headed to my desk. I had about 3 or 4 hours of complete (almost) uninterrupted bliss!!

Now, before I show you what I made I'd like to explain a little of the 'back story' to this item..... Our finances are currently a mess. I think most of you will know the feeling, especially as the pay cuts, inflation, higher taxes, higher fuel costs, and super-inflated grocery costs all hit our pockets. Added to that the fact that hubby hasn't had a pay rise in nearly 6 years, we're carrying two mortgages (long story!) and both cars seem to be determined to be as expensive possible at the moment we're definitely finding it hard going at the moment. Please tell me I'm not alone in this?? Does any of it sound familiar?

Well, I often read the Life as Mom blog and had seen her explain how they got out of debt using a modified form of the Envelope System. I took no notice as I figured this was a 'big American thing that couldn't possibly apply to us'. Then I saw (quite by accident) a video on YouTube on it, a book on Amazon about it and heard another friend talking about it. By that time I was sitting up and taking notice... and finally getting the message that maybe this idea was being presented to me over and over again for. a. reason. The final straw was when I was browsing on my mobile phone only to find an App for it!! So hubby and I have done a budget and labelled up some envelopes and we've been using the system for about 3 weeks now. And it SO WORKS!! Have a look at this video to see how this system works.

My only problem is.... it's not PRETTY. Yep, as a crafter I have to resist the urge to make it pretty. And today I completely failed on the resisting front!! Mr Mojo came back in full force and I went with the flow..... including cutting up an old pair of jeans. Not my usual way of working but I'm soooo pleased with the results....

 

So there it is... Mr Mojo's much-prettier-completely-craftyfied-envelope system. What do you think??

One Little Word 2011 and other such online classes!

You know what? I'm a complete sucker for online classes. I love the idea of signing up to learn something new and that I can be delivered directly to my inbox. I don't have to pack up bags of books, drop the kids off anywhere and I can do it when it suits me. My idea of Utopia. Except...... when the emails start coming, I get behind. And then I get frustrated, and depressed and cross with myself because I've shelled out good money for something that I'm not actually getting any benefit from! Still, sometimes one or two come along that say "hey, it doesn't matter if you're not keeping up with the prompts right now, just do it when you can!" I love that. Which is one of the reasons that I love classes by Shimelle and Ali! They're both like that. Which is why I don't have any regrets signing up for Shimelle's latest class, which is called 'Blogging for Scrapbookers'. I've done this one before but it's great to have a refresher course in preparation for her next class 'Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers'. I've been re-learning a lot and I'm hoping to learn a lot more! This time round I've been a bit behind on this class, but I'm not stressing... because unbeknownst to you all I've been following her prompts! I just wasn't starting with 'Today Shimelle has asked us to blog about...' Which is good.

My other class that I signed up for this year is being taught by Ali over on BigPictureClasses. It's called 'One Little Word'. Although this is my first time taking the class, you might still recognise the title as I have played along unofficially several times before. Last year my word for the year was 'Self-Discipline'. A rather tricky word for most people but I needed it and saw great results from it. A few years ago my word was 'Create'. That year I created loads, including my second child! I love that the words start off with one intention in your head and then as you live them loads of other things start happening as a result too. So this year, I decided to sign up with the class that runs through the year. It's more for creative ideas on how to document the word and the results. I signed up late because I was umming and ahhing about whether I should or not. So I started out behind! However, I'm taking photo's and pondering and mulling and in the meantime I'm trying to live my word for the year. This year my word is 'Reclaim'. Tricky, I know but I think it will be interesting to see how it all pans out at the end of the year!

Things I want to reclaim:

• My weightloss
• My self-discipline
• My self-confidence
• My creativity
• My kids
• My husband
• My home
• My faith
• My fitness

Amongst other things!!

We've been set a task to take photo's of things/people/places that would encapsulate your word or things you associate with your word. I'm struggling a little on that one!!

So far, I have only got a few photographs including this one.

Have you got anymore ideas on how I would photograph the word 'Reclaim'? Any suggestions would be gratefully received!! Thanks for your comments!

New Years resolutions and just one word....

Happy New Year to all my friends, family and random readers! I hope that 2010 is a year of peace, happiness and prosperity for you and your families. I don't know about you, but I'm actually looking forward to 2010 and everything its going to bring with it. I can't believe that we are already a full week into the new year. See? Only 51 more weeks to go until we do it all again!

Seeing as there has been so much snow around this week, I've not been doing a lot of rushing around like I normally would. This forced inactivity gets a person thinking and this week there has been an awful lot to think about. Two things have been the focus of my thinking.... firstly, New Years Resolutions. OK, so if you're anything like me these are a nightmare. I make a looooong list of things that I want to change and by the time the end of January comes along they've all fallen by the wayside and are long forgotten. The last few years I tried not to make any resolutions at all, which was okay-ish, but I felt I was lacking something to work towards. Not really a problem for two years or so as I was too busy dealing with being pregnant, renovating a house, putting said house on the market, packing up, moving, finding a new house to rent, starting eldest daughter in new nursery, moving in and unpacking lots of boxes, having new baby, having too many sleepless nights, finding a new house to buy, organising 4th birthday parties for the same day we got our new house keys, decorating and flooring the new house before we moved in, packing and moving in loads of boxes, changing eldest daughters nursery again to be closer to the new house, having a first birthday 'party' for youngest daughter, getting stuff fixed on the new house that the previous owners had bodged, my own birthday, preparing for Christmas.... and trying to remember to breathe in amongst all that lot! But this year I don't forsee any babies or moving or renovating. In fact, other than the eldest daughter starting 'big school' I don't actually forsee much happening at all. Ah! Bliss! Ok, there will still be the usual day-to-day stuff and routine maintenance on the house... but this year I would like a challenge of some sort. So I'm resorting to New Years Resolutions again! So here they are....

1. Lose weight. My excess weight is really affecting my health and mobility now. I've had enough of it all and am going to make the change to get rid of it.
2. Get fitter. 
3. Create more. I love being creative, but with all that I've been doing over the last two years its taken a bit of a backseat. I would love to increase my creativity... including the painting and sewing I used to do before eldest was born!
4. Learn a new skill. I still have to decide what I would like to learn. Something creative that I haven't tried yet? Or maybe a new language?
5. Be more involved at Church. 
6. Improve my relationship with my kids... basically, yell less and hug more!
7. Improve my relationship with God... basically, yell less and listen more!

Are these impossible? I don't think so. The key to all of these things is self-discipline. Something I'm not terribly good at. Will they last? I hope so, but only time will tell. Check back at the end of January for that one!
Part of the New Year Resolutions thing for a lot of people, including Ali Edwards , is to choose one word to live by for the whole year. Just one word that will guide your thoughts, actions, goals and dreams for the year. I participated in this a few years ago and found it to be really inspiring. I chose the word Create for that year. And boy did I? It was a great year for creativity, not just in scrapbooking or artistic stuff... but also for creating a home out of a building site, creating a second daughter, creating a calmer environment for all of us as a family etc. This past week I've been thinking about choosing another word for the year. Create came to me easily, but this time I was really struggling. Then, a couple of days ago I suddenly struck on the word Seek. No, its not a generic, feel-good factor sort of word... but I think it will work! It came with a couple of Scriptures attached too....

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" Matthew 7:7


"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well" Matthew 6:33 

(source: http://elegantwordart2.blogspot.com/ )


So this year I believe that if I seek God in all these things then I will be able to accomplish the goals I have set myself. This year I'm going to Seek a slimmer, fitter body; A more creative life; A new skill; Greater involvement; and Better relationships. 


I don't think they're bad things to strive for... do you? What resolutions have you made?

WWII

No.... not World War II, just Weight Watchers 2! After getting on my scales here at home I nearly fell off them and had a major coronary, it seems that I'm now at the heaviest I have ever been. This is a combination of 1) not taking my medication 2) having developed a sweet tooth during my last trimester with herself 3) too many take-outs and 4) not enough exercise! Himself is also complaining that he is putting on all the weight that he lost the first time we did Weight Watchers and wants to stop gaining and start losing again. So.... it's back to counting points, cutting out take-aways and chocolates and making healthy choices. I've also purchased a Tai Chi DVD to get myself into some gentle exercise rather than trying to torture myself at a gym (not to mention the boredom of running in the same spot all the time!) I'm trying to set myself little goals on the way to my final goal, just so that I can keep focused. I'm aiming to lose my first half-stone by Christmas... and then NOT TO PUT ANY ON during the festive period. To this end, himself and I have agreed that I can have a little treat after losing each half-stone. I've decided to collect Troll beads... "What beads?" I hear you ask. Well, here they are have a look! I think they're lovely, but the one's I really like are these - Dolly Beads. Himself has bought me a bracelet and two beads as part of my birthday present so that I have something to put the beads on as I earn them. I must admit that collecting these teeny little beads could become quite addictive... and I'm hoping that they will keep me focused all the way to my goal weight!

So far I'm doing well. I've been on WW for 2 weeks already and have lost 3.5lbs so far! I'm dead chuffed as I normally find it really difficult to lose any weight. However, wanting to lose weight has spurred me on to start taking my medication again as that is supposed to help combat the insulin problems that come with having PCOS. It seems to be working... well the combination of medication, healthier eating and the occassional Tai Chi has at any rate! The real trick will be having a great festive season without putting any weight on. This year we have been invited to spend Christmas with my Sister-in-Law, her hubby and their two boys (along with all the rest of the family!), and as they generally cook fairly healthily anyway I'm hoping that it's going to be down to resisting all the chocs and peanuts and portion control.  The question is.... can I resist the peanuts?? I'm not sure!!

Anyway, keep any eye on this space.... I'll update occassionally on my progress and the lovely beads I have earned as I get them!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Here's a blog prompt from UKScrappers today that caught my eye. Thought it might be a good one to try out...
"What changes do you plan to make in your life in the coming months. Do you like or loath change?"
Changes I would like to make are rather different to changes that I'm going to make. Firstly, I would like to put an extension on our house that could give us a study/scraproom downstairs and another bedroom upstairs. The change I'm going to make is that the spare bedroom is going to do double duty as study(scraproom) and guest bedroom.  This is going to involve ripping out some really dated fitted wardrobes, stripping wallpaper, ripping up carpet and then painting, laying laminate floor and installing some desks and shelving. Secondly, I would like to have someone to do all the housework for me so that I can spend my time doing the stuff I really like. However, I'm going to be following the FLYlady (www.flylady.net) to learn how to break the housework down into more manageable chunks.  I'm hoping that doing it this way will mean that I can actually do the stuff I like too! Some other changes I would liketo make are:

1. Lose weight
2. Finish decorating the house
3. Move back to Inverness
4. Have another baby
5. Find a job I can do from home
6. Go back to college to finish my Fine Arts studies
7. Re-model the back garden

Somehow, I really can't see me actually accomplishing all of those in the next year.... but I will give it my best shot!  Change isn't something I have a huge problem with. In fact, I love change! To the extent that every 2 years I start getting restless and wanting to move house... that isn't normal is it?!  But then, who is?!