life

{photo a day}: THE END.

February 1, 2012

January Photo-A-Day Challenge

{Personal Favorites: Day 3, Day 10, Day 15, Day 23, Day 30}

So this is the end of the road for me and my photo-a-day project.

I saw that there’s a February list up, but I just don’t have it in me.

It was fun.

It was interesting.

And yes, I have some really cool pictures to show for it.

Some of the assignments were really meaningful for me (see above favorites). I loved getting just the right picture, or setting up a scene, or reflecting on the photo at the end of the day. But for the most part, it was a chore. I am a perfectionist and this brought it out in me BIG TIME. I found myself hyper-focusing on things just to figure out what to post. And it’s funny, because I always say how I like that blogging and photography has made me take a real solid look at the little things, but photo-a-day just took it to the next level for me in a not so good way. I felt like I wasn’t really living, only looking for something that most of the time just wasn’t what I wanted to be looking for.

It was a cool concept, for sure. And yes, when I saw February’s list go up a week ago I thought about it for a tiny second. But then I thought, if I keep doing this all year, what am I really going to have to show for it? A bunch of photos from a list of words and ideas that I don’t really own in my heart.

It was exciting at the beginning, and then slowly started to become more and more of a task, and one that I wasn’t too excited about either. But once I commit to something, I commit. In most instances this is a blessing, but here I was just pushing for the end-point. I couldn’t quit halfway through, because I’m no quitter. Ya hear?? Now that January is over and my photos are complete, I’m saying “see ya later” to photo-a-day, and “hello!” to living.

Here’s to taking pictures of things I just feel like taking pictures of. And not being stressed about it.

AMEN.

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{photo a day}: you, again

January 31, 2012

31. You, again
January 31, 2012

THE END!

{Check back tomorrow for a recap of my photos and my thoughts on the project.}

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my weekend.

January 30, 2012

It was one of those weekends where I just found the time to get stuff done.

Nothing special, but everything I needed and then some.

Here’s how it went…

Sleep:

This was the #1 most important thing for me to do this weekend and I did it. After a relaxing Friday evening with Pinterest followed by some couch time with Zanner, I found myself in bed at 10:00 with a smile on my face. This is my kind of Friday night, I couldn’t help but think to myself. Dreamy. I had a similar evening Saturday that included a glass of wine and some movie watching. Again, I was living the dream. Both days I slept until around 9:00 and I couldn’t feel more rested and rejuvenated as I start this week off.

Laundry:

Since last weekend I’d had a pile of clean laundry just stuffed in the hamper just screaming at me to fold it. But last week was just one of those weeks where all I wanted to do after work was sit on the couch and veg out in front of the TV. I was TIRED. So of course, that’s what I did. This weekend I not only folded all that laundry (albeit wrinkled), I did a few other loads and folded those too. I am proud to say this is a clean laundry house at the moment. And it feels so good.

Vacuuming:

For me, this is one of the most satisfying things EVER. We have one of those really old Electrolux vacuums that basically looks exactly like this. That thing is a machine and I LOVE to suck up every last dust mite and stray dirt that ever was. I finally feel like I can really get the space clean with this piece of equipment. And I LOVE it.

Work-out:

So about two weeks ago I joined the gym. I didn’t tell you guys about it yet because I didn’t know if I would stick to it or not. It’s a bit too early to tell, but I’m actually enjoying it. I ride the bike for 30-40 minutes and read my book. Killing two birds with one stone is always a good thing. Then I bust out some moves in the weight area and call it a day. I’ll let you know how I feel about it in a month or two. Wish me luck.

Grocery Shopping:

I have to admit that I am a horrible grocery shopper. I usually just go after work when I am starving and buy anything and everything that looks good. This results in too much food that doesn’t get eaten in time before it goes bad. When I was visiting with Hannah in Maine I saw that she had a very specific system in place where she shops every Sunday and plans out her meals for the week. This results in less spending, healthier meals, and less waste. I am attempting this endeavor and so I made a list Sunday after lunch (to control my hunger) of only things I needed and gave it a go. I spent less, bought only the essentials, and even have a few meal choices for the week ahead. Beef stir fry anyone? Yes, please.

Hot Yoga:

If you thought going to the gym was awesome, then you’re really going to be impressed with me now. I’m back on the yoga bandwagon and it hurts so good. For those of you that have been around this place awhile you may remember my love affair with yoga last summer. I went all the time and just could not get enough of that hot sticky goodness. Since I’ve moved and started up at school again I just got out of my routine and stopped going. Part of it was being unable to find the time to go and part of it was the cost (it’s expensive!) but I’ve been really yearning for it lately and realize it’s a great way for me to feel healthy and at peace with myself, especially since my job takes lot out of me. I love my job, but it’s nice to have someplace to go to just get away from it all and take some real time for myself. Yoga is this place for me and I’m looking forward to making more time for it.

In addition to all of the above there was mall shopping, cloud watching, and pizza making.

A nice little weekend in my book.

How was yours?

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