24 June, 2013

The Halfway Mark

 
Hello my little yellow bubbles of happiness, how are you?
 
 
 
I live such an exciting life.

   On the Edge.               
                     
I'm off the chain baby!



I'm such a wild child that this afternoon I - wait for it - sorted out all my wool and catalogued it!!!!!!!
 
 
 
                     I know!!!!!! - what a crazy gal I  am! You wish you were me don't you?
 
 
This is my drawer of reds/pinks/ purples which had just been sorted, and then all the blues and greens that I just dumped onto the floor ready for sorting. I've got all my colours sorted into different draws to make it easier to find them. Life is much easier this way. And I'm a Virgo, and we like things to be neat and orderly...

Anyhoo, I've been buying wool randomly for several years and it was time to take stock of what I have and how much I've used. I also tidied up the balls, rolled all the little loose bits together, the half balls of the same colour that somehow end up not being fully used.  I'm in good shape with the wool, it's just all the hats and scarves I've made I need to sell now or at least add an extra room onto the house to store it in!

Maybe it's the full moon, but I was energised and wanted to get all sorted and tidied and just to know what I had. I even managed to go through some old half-started (or is it half- finished?) projects and recycle the wool and even threw one out that was not redeemable at all - I was holding on to it for ages (years) thinking that I'll get back to it, I'll undo all the wool and re-use it etc. etc. etc. But I never did and I feel so much better for just getting rid of it. It's like a weight off my chest and a bit of space reclaimed in my cupboard! And it's good Feng Shui :)

Around the time I was sorting out my wool, my boyfriend was at his place sorting out his finances. He  went through his bills, looked though his accounts, did a catalogue of what he owed, what he spent and what he saved. He looked in every dusty little corner, taking stock of the Good the Bad and the Ugly in regards to money, then culled a few expenses that he didn't need and cut back where he could. It's that time of the year where we need to take stock of things.


It's almost the end of June; the 6th month of the year.

The halfway mark.

How has your year been so far?
 
Have you done some of the things you said you were going to do? Have you done any of them? Can you even remember what your plans were way back in January?
 
It's not too late you know, you've got another six months to go until the end of the year.


That's absolutely ages!!!!
 

Now is the perfect time to look back on the last 6 months, take stock, and look forward to the next 6 months. Look at your resolutions/goals/plans objectively. Air them out, so to speak, unroll them, sort them out, dust them off and

GET CRACKING!!



let me know how you go,
Jacqui xx
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


13 June, 2013

My100 Dreams part one recap

Hello wondrous Readers, remember this?
 
 
If you've been wondering how I've been going with these goals and what my next instalment of dreams will be, never fear. Part two will hit the cyber presses soonish, but I thought I'd do a follow up on the first instalment to see how I've been going, what I've been doing and what I haven't been doing to achieve my goals, both big and not so big. This is my way of keeping myself honest by sharing how slack I've been in some respects and how amazing I am in others ;)

So, without further ado here's part one recap:

1. Go to the Melbourne Cup - I've been to Melbourne lots of times, but never for the   
            Cup! Still planning it but money's very tight so we'll see how big my tax return is this year!

2. Go back to painting lessons  not yet, but still planning on doing a day class here and there
 
 3. Say Yes! (I'm more of a say no then regret it later kind of person)  - YES, I've said yes to positive things more than I've said no, and good things are happening, (including getting back together with my ex boyfriend :) )

 
4. Go to Meditation lessons -YES, have been going on and off for the last few months and I love it! Its helped me still my overworked brain, and to think and feel a bit more clearly about things. I'm trying to meditate at home, but find it harder to do as there are too many distractions. Something to work on.

5. Keep eating healthy - yes and no. I've slipped back into some bad habits (ie coffee, sweets), but for the most parts, I'm eating well and making much better food choices.

6. Be involved with three market stalls to sell my products YES. This one is done and dusted - I've had a stall at 2 of the Springwood Creative Markets and one at the Mother's Day Mt Gravatt one. I'm considering doing more markets but I need to find somewhere suitable as the 3 I've done haven't been all that successful. It's all a learning experience, and I'm having so much fun along the way.

7. Get my car loan to under $10,000 (have already made a start to this one and have
         increased my weekly car repayment) I'll know how I'm going next month when I get my statement

8.  Get Jacqstar Creations to 200 likers - If you haven't stopped over and had a look at my Facebook page yet please do and help me achieve this goal :)
Here's the link:  Jacqstar Creations  - I've gone from about 90 in January to 142, so I'm well on my way :)

9. Sing jazz in a jazz club WOOT this is going to happen on Sunday night. OK, it's not in a smoky basement jazz club, but I'm singing Etta James' 'At Last' in my choir concert and it's a jazz concert and I'll be wearing black, and long gloves and it'll be all cool and atmospheric!

10. Visit all the Australian capitals (so far I've only been to Brisbane Sydney
        and Melbourne) - no updates on this one but it's a long term goal so I'm not worried about it

11.  Take drawing lessons - not yet -  I must look into this

12. Go to a wine tasting tour around the vineyards somewhere - if I can work it into my Melbourne trip I will, if not it's still on my to-do list for later this year or next year
13. Release my inner bohemian - I've noticed that the clothes I choose are brighter in colour than usual, and instead of being dressed almost exclusively by Target and K-Mart, I've bought some skirts at the Southbank markets. My inner butterfly is starting to uncurl her wings.

14. Go to G.O.M.A three times this year and see the latest exhibits - have been once so far, two more to go. (if you've never been, it's amazing)

15. Travel to Egypt - long term goal, will start saving once my car is paid off

16. Learn to speak Fluent French - long term but I'm putting it down for something next year to start a tafe beginner's French course

17. Travel to France and live there for a while and really learn the language
        and soak up the culture - long term

18. Paint my nails in bright crazy colours - I'm painting them blue for my choir concert - that counts as done!

19. Go to the Planetarium. - When I added this to my list the Planetarium was closed for upgrading, so now I've got no excuse, I'll organise something soon.

20. Do the Bridge to Brisbane again this year. - it's on the 1st of September and I'm registering this week and have organised the day off work so it's practically done :)