I’ve set myself a challenge each month aimed at giving me new experiences. February’s challenge was to take a photo everyday. Here’s the photos I snapped:
1st – Coffee.
1st – Servers Down After Powercut.
2nd – Hair Cut.
2nd Time with “The Kids.”
4th – Owe, look what came through the post! Wicked (the musical) tickets!
5th – Snow.
6th – This pretty much somes up my day.
7th – Broadband problems meant I had to buy a landline phone. First time in years that I’ve had a landline!
8th – Went shopping for a Birthday card and saw this #funnycard
9th – Judith’s Birthday Meal.
9th – Clever table display, bought from the 99p Shop.
My iMac finally died.
12th – Ironing as I go.
13th – Traffic :-(.
14th – Unhelpful Siri.
15th – Look at the time! On nights.
17th – Sore feet. Been rushing around on nights.
18th – My plans for the day.
19th – Frost.
20th – Dylan & Russell attention seeking.
22nd – My nephew’s BIG Birthday.
23rd – Easy tea.
24th – A treat.
25th – The obsession with food continues. Omelet and rice.
26th – Smoked far too much today!
27th – Morning inspiration. Coffee before meeting? Why not!
27th – The Sun! Made me feel happier and more positive.
28th – A inspirational wall plaque!
All of these photos were taken with my iPhone 5. I did miss four days, however other days I took more than one photo because of the day’s events.
I really enjoyed this month’s challenge. It helped me to notice the positives in a otherwise dark and gloomy month. I like that the photos also serve as a sort of visual diary. Something I’ll definitely be doing again in the future.
Just a quick post to say that I’ve not forgotten about you!
For the past month as I’ve been writing and editing a short story for a competition. Now that it’s done and submitted I can get back to my usual: reading & reviewing books and bloging about other things in my life.
So after next week expect the following blog posts to start appearing:
Book Review: One Hundred Names by Cecelia Ahern I’ll tell you what I thought of One Hundred Names along with how it compares to Ahern’s previous books.
New Experiences: January – Do something that makes you feel uncomfortable I’ll write about how I could have been partially naked for this experience; but ended up opting for something that made me feel emotionally vulnerable instead.
Technology Review: The iPhone 5 I’ll write about the good, the bad and where I think Apple has gone wrong with the new iPhone.
New Experiences: February – Take a photo every day
I’ll sharing all of the photos I’ve been collecting this month along with captions.
Another year passes us by, time flies by so quickly doesn’t it? For me this year has been a mix of passive times with periods of immense activity. In January I bought myself an iMac (see iMac Part 1 & iMac Part 2), promising myself to write creatively more often. In April I went to watch Steps to relive my youth with mum, Ian & Jodie.
(Above left to right: Ian, Mum & Jodie. Steps Logo on MEN screen. Jodie & Mum.)
In May I had two weeks of annual leave and celebrated my birthday at Alton Towers. If you’ve never been to Alton Towers…you must go; it’s a brilliant day out. During my time off I also visited Chester Zoo for Steve’s Birthday and visited Steve’s family in Hastings.
(Above left to right: Steve in Giant Turtle Shells. Two Cheetahs sunbathing. Me, Steve’s Friend & Steve in Masks at the gift shop.)
My Degree in Nursing results were released in June and I got a Upper Second (2:1) Honours. I felt a sense of achievement and a sense of relief that it was finally over after I previously had to put the final module back a year.
Sye came to stay in July for the Summer. With his arrival I felt a renewed level of motivation to get things done. He returned to Uni. in Salford in the Autumn, it was good having him to stay but I am glad that he’s back where he wants to be.
I had a day trip to Liverpool in August with my good friends Chrys & Simon. Chrys being a proper scouser (minus the accent) showed us round the beautiful city and for the first time I understood why people love the city: the architecture, the culture (music) and the seemingly relaxed nature of the people.
Just before the day trip to Liverpool I started experiencing some severe back pain. After seeing my GP I had an x-ray, was given some painkillers and was referred to Physio. My back’s still causes me some grief now, but the combination of co-codamol and physio exercises have massively reduced the amount of pain I experience.
Having continued to blog throughout the year including several book reviews, I was surprised in September when I had caught the eye of a Publicist (who works for several publishers). This Publicist, from Publishers Group UK asked me if I would review one of their books. I had a bit of a confidence crisis, as I had absolutely no confidence in my writing but Sye encouraged me to go for it. So I did…
The Publicist was that pleased with my review that he sent me another five books to read and at one point stated “a career as a book reviewer beckons!” This was a huge complement and has given me a little more confidence around my writing.
About a week or so ago, I was approached by a Publicist Manager for Headline publishers who have asked me to review a copy of Fuse the second book in a trilogy.
Among my plans for next year is to develop my writing further. But for now I’m focusing on Yule and Christmas. Things are changing this Christmas; for the first time ever Mum is working on Christmas Day, I am off work for the whole Christmas period and I am going to attempt (with Steve) to make Christmas Dinner. Ha ha should be fun at the very least.
At the beginning of last January I set some Goals for 2011. I’m going to review the progress I made so that I can look at Goals for 2012. I am going to say at this point as I wrote in my The Annual Christmas Card Letter that it has been an emotionally difficult year due to the death of Alex (see My Darling Baby Brother & Grief). This has undoubtedly had an impact on my progress with some of these goals. So with that said, let’s have a look starting with Health:
Health
1. To quit smoking.
2. To test my blood sugars twice a day.
Well I haven’t quit smoking this year. But I know I need too. So it will probably go on new years goal list.
After recently being ill I have started to test my blood sugars more than twice a day, but it still needs to be on next years goals as I’ve only recently started regularly testing my blood sugars.
As I wrote about in the The Annual Christmas Card Letter because of Alex’s death I didn’t manage to complete the Change for Children module meaning it will be a goal for the year ahead.
Ian and I split up, but I was still determined to at least start Complementary Therapies (Teach Yourself Your Evening Class). That was until I realised the cost of essential oils and the other equipment I’d need. So the course has popped in the cupboard of no return.
Creativity
5. To use my creativity more in my everyday life.
6. To write a short story per quarter of the year with themes. The themes and deadlines:
Theme
Deadline
Heroes and Villains
31st March 2010
Love
30th June 2010
Life & Death/Light & Dark/Good & Bad
30th September 2010
In search of an “object”/Holy grail
31st December 2010
7. To read 10 fiction or autobiographical books and review on the blog.
8. To read 5 pagan books and review on the blog.
I feel that I do use creativity more in my everyday life, especially with this new job.
I haven’t done any creative writing this year, despite setting myself deadlines. I do have some good ideas and hope to write in the year ahead. I want to be Writing Something Worthwhile. I’ve read twelve fiction or autobiographical books, but not managed to review them all on the blog. I hope to catch up with the reviews in the new year. I haven’t managed to read 5 pagan books this year.
Paganism & Spirituality
9. To continue to work on invokation of Apollo.
10. To read Astral Projection for Beginners by Edain McCoy and regularly practice my astral projection.
11. To buy a book on runes, learn runes and practice.
12. Host a psychic party.
My pagan and spiritual development has been somewhat arrested this year. I bought Astral Projection for Beginners by Edain McCoy but then borrowed it out so haven’t read it yet. But I have done some Astral Projection. I also bought runes and a book about it, but runes didn’t connect with me as a method of definition.
Financial
13. Pay off credit cards.
14. To not increase my debts.
15. To live more frugally.
My credit card debts have stayed at roughly the same owed. So I’ve managed to not increase my debts which was a goal for this year. But in the year ahead I really need to focus on reducing the debts and the interest that I pay on them. I need to renegotiate my out goings and save regularly for that “rainy day.”
Family and Friends
16. To support them to achieve a state of increased happiness.
17. To see my friend Simon at least once a month.
I hope that I have supported my family and friends to achieve a state of increased happiness. I have given advice, supported them through difficult times and most importantly been their to listen. I’ve definitely achieved the goal to see Simon at least once a month, in fact I’ve exceeded it!
Travel
18. Save up to visit the Egyptian Pyramids.
I haven’t managed to save up to visit the Egyptian Pyramids, but it is a place I’d still like to visit.
